


When They Come For Me

by riverchic1998



Series: Underground [1]
Category: Angel: the Series, Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Humor, Pre-Series Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-12
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-16 04:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverchic1998/pseuds/riverchic1998
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Winchester has everything he's ever wanted: a wonderful girlfriend named Jessica Moore and a normal life away from hunting at Stanford University. When his best friend, Connor Reilly, comes back from a trip to L.A. acting different, Sam begins to worry. At the same time, demonic activity picks up around the campus, and he reluctantly takes up hunting once more, shocked to find Connor doing the same thing.</p><p>Sam and Connor make a pact that they will hunt, but only when it will not endanger the fresh starts they have been blessed with. Everything goes smoothly until Dean Winchester shows up the weekend before Sam's law school interview claiming their father is missing. Tasking Connor to stay with Jess, Sam goes with Dean to hunt a Woman in White, not knowing his life will be vastly different when he returns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A more detailed author’s notes and acknowledgements are located at the end of the story, but still, many thanks to the mods of the Supernatural Crossover Big Bang 2011, to my artist, and to my beta. You all are wonderful. Title comes from Linkin Park's "When They Come For Me".

  
…………………………  
  
Sam knew that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but everywhere he looked, all he could focus on were the father and son pairs scattered across the campus, hauling boxes together and laughing at some inside joke that came from afternoons playing baseball or doing yard work during the summer. He ducked his head and kept his eyes on the ground in front of him, weaving through the families unloading cars. Sam only had the large duffel bag thrown over his shoulder and hadn’t come in the family minivan, but by an older Greyhound bus that departed from Nevada.  
  
A wry grin crossed his lips when he tried to imagine a scenario where Dean and his dad would have seen him off in the Impala. His dad would have scoured the campus, looking for any demonic activity, quizzing him on what runes to carve into the door and asking if he had enough salt to last him until he could get to a grocery store. Dean would have scoured the girls around the school, and would have the phone numbers of at least three before they waved goodbye to the youngest Winchester and headed off for a hunt.  
  
A car horn blaring loudly woke him from his daydream and he shook his head, looking down at the map he received at the Orientation table. Until he could find a job and an apartment, he was stuck with on-campus living and praying for a normal roommate. He’d already overheard two horror stories walking to his dorm.  
  
Sam was always good with directions and a map, so he found Donner House in Stern Hall fairly quickly. There were no single rooms left and the Hall was co-ed by corridor. It was going to be strange living with so many people his age; it was a completely new experience, but the idea of staying put in one room for more than a few weeks at a time sounded exciting.  
  
After navigating the halls and corridors, he found his room. The door was open, and another young man about his same age was leaning over a box placed on one of the beds. Sam hesitantly knocked on the door frame.  
  
The man spun around and grinned when he saw Sam. “Hi. You my new roommate?”  
  
Sam nodded and walked into the room, glancing around. “Yeah. Sam Winchester.” He held out his hand.  
  
“Brady Michaels,” the man replied, shaking his hand. “I hope you don’t mind that I grabbed this side.”  
  
He looked around at the blank side of the room and shrugged. “A bed’s a bed to me. I’m cool.”  
  
“Can I help you unpack?”  
  
He dropped the duffel bag onto the mattress that he was set to sleep on for the next year. Sam was prepared for this line of questioning and tried not to seem too nervous. “Nah, this is all my stuff. My dad was in the military, so we moved a lot.”  
  
As Sam started pulling things out of his bag, Brady went back to unpacking his boxes. “So, what’s your intellectual poison?”  
  
“What?” Sam asked, tensing a bit at the word ‘poison’.  
  
“Your major,” Brady replied with a laugh.  
  
“Oh,” Sam said lamely. “Uh, pre-law.”  
  
Brady chuckled. “Ah, another student who wants to submit themselves to more school than the brain should handle. I’m pre-med.”  
  
Sam was relieved, because if Brady wanted to get into a decent medical school, he would have to study extremely hard and not have time for partying, disrupting Sam’s own study schedule.  
  
“Dad’s a doctor, mom’s a nurse, older sister is an ultrasound tech. I figured it’s in my genes so I might as well get in the family business.”  
  
He returned Brady’s grin, although it was fake. While Brady was following in his family’s footsteps, Sam was running away from his. He was studying to put people like his family behind bars.  
  
“Hey!” Sam’s head snapped up when Brady snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Since you’re practically already unpacked, you can help me with some of my crap. I still have a few boxes waiting in my car outside.”  
  
“Sure,” Sam replied, standing up. With a sigh, he followed after Brady, wondering if he was prepared for the next four years.  
  
…………………………  
  
Sam’s first class came at 8:00 on a warm Monday morning. He didn’t mind the early morning, unlike his bleary-eyed roommate who was running late for his World Civilization class.  
  
He saved up enough money from his last pool hustle to buy a decent laptop he could use for coursework and pulled it out to place on the desk in front of him. Sam was sitting closer to the back of the class, and when the professor started up the lecture, someone slid into the chair next to him. Sam glanced over and saw another student pulling out his own laptop and book.  
  
“This seat taken?”  
  
Sam shook his head at the whispered question.  
  
There was no more time for introductions before the professor started handing out the class syllabus and going over the materials they would need for the class. Sam took meticulous notes, not wanting to forget anything and decided he would have to hit up one of the campus stores in the afternoon for better supplies. His single notebook and pens with chewed lids weren’t going to cut it.  
  
The two hour class flew by. When they were dismissed, Sam glanced at the student who took the seat next to him. The only person he knew on campus so far was Brady, and even then, it was obvious that they wouldn’t have a single class together and would have different study groups. In junior high and high school, Sam never really tried to make friends because they wouldn’t stay in the school very long. This was different. Sam planned on staying here, and that meant being social.  
  
“Hi, I’m Sam,” he said, holding out his hand. The student looked up and took Sam’s hand.  
  
“Connor. Freshman, pre-law?”  
  
Sam nodded and stood the same time Connor did, both of them slinging their backpacks over their shoulder. “I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting Civil Procedure to be that fast paced,” Sam began.  
  
“I know,” Connor said, shaking his head as they walked out of the lecture hall. “I met Professor Woods when I was here as a prospect, and he didn’t talk that fast. Looks like I’ll be spending more time at study group than I thought.”  
  
“You’ve already got one formed?” he asked in surprise, but Connor chuckled.  
  
“Just me, myself, and I. Well, another girl on my corridor says she’s pre-law, but by the way she’s talking, she’ll trade Civic law in for Fashion law.”  
  
Sam returned the laugh. “Well, if you ever want to study, I’m over in Donnor Hall, room 418.”  
  
Connor nodded with a grin and they headed off their separate ways.  
  
…………………………  
  
A week later, Connor took his seat next to Sam in Civil Procedure and pulled out his books. They had three classes together and although they hadn’t talked much outside of classes, they still sat next to each other and talked about various assignments before and after lectures.  
  
Sam caught Connor’s pen as it started to roll off the desk. “Here you go.”  
  
“Oh, thanks,” Connor replied. “So I was thinking of getting a study session started early in the semester. You interested?”  
  
He paused in writing down a few notes before class began and thought about it as he glanced at Connor out of the corner of his eye. A study group with someone his own age in his own field of study who appeared to be one of the few semi-laid back people in pre-law seemed like a good idea. If it turned out to be a mistake, he could always bow out.  
  
“Yeah, sure. What days?”  
  
“Tuesdays and Thursdays? And maybe an odd Sunday if we have exams piled on us in a week,” he answered. “I can reserve a room in the library for us.”  
  
Sam nodded as the professor started his lecture, wondering if normal people were this excited over the prospect of studying with other students. Probably not.  
  
It turned out that he got a chance to experience his first study group the following night. Sam arrived at the library just as Connor finished securing a study room for them. He wasn’t sure what all they would be studying or what exactly they would do.  
  
He followed Connor into a small study room, just big enough for four people. As they unloaded their books, Sam debated on how to break the silence and get the session started.  
  
Fortunately, Connor let out a loud sigh and broke the silence for him. “I didn’t get anything from the Contracts class. Can you help me?”  
  
Sam launched into an explanation of the purpose of legal protection, and before he knew it, he started to relax. Tension seeped out of his shoulders and the air in the room became less stressful. They were cracking jokes at professors and throwing out questions, letting each other explain the answer. With a pang, Sam realized he had missed this in high school, but refused to be angry about it. He was getting the experience now, and as he wrote down another explanation, he was even surer of his decision to come to college.  
  
Connor stretched and popped his back. “I guess we better pack up. The library is going to close in a few minutes.”  
  
In surprise, Sam looked at his own watch. Three and a half hours had already flown by. Sam hadn’t realized how quickly the time went, and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it and learned.  
  
“Do you want to grab something to eat?”  
  
Sam shrugged. Connor rolled his eyes and started packing his things. At the time they decided to eat, Sam thought it was a good idea, but once they sat down to eat, he realized it was a mistake.  
  
“So, where are you from?” Connor asked, swiping a French fry through some ketchup and popping it in his mouth. Sam’s drink was halfway to his mouth as he froze at the question, but Connor didn’t even blink. He probably didn’t have to think up a lie to answer such simple and ordinary questions.  
  
“I’m from Los Angeles, born and raised.”  
  
“I was born in Kansas,” Sam said, “But my dad was in the military, so we moved a lot. Never really had a home for a long time. This will probably the longest I’ve stayed in one place.”  
  
Connor winced. “My cousin is an army brat. She always hated moving so often, having to make new friends in new schools, but I always thought it would be neat to see so many different parts of the country. My uncle even got placed in Germany at one point. Did you travel any overseas?”  
  
Sam shook his head, and made sure he kept his mouth full so he could avoid questions. Luckily, Connor and was content to talk about his family life and picked up quickly that Sam didn’t want to delve into his.  
  
After dinner they decided to go back to their rooms since they both had class early in the morning. Sam unlocked the door to his room and walked in, dropping his bag by his desk. So far, he survived his first week of college, participated in a study group, and possibly made a friend in Connor Reilly. As he changed to get ready for bed, Sam couldn’t help but smile at the normalcy of the situation. It was a nice feeling.  
  
…………………………  
  
His first semester of college passed without incident. He studied, he did his homework, he hung out with Connor when he wasn’t busy, and he had no interaction with anything supernatural. The final exams were gruesome, but he passed all his classes and signed up for his next semester. Before he knew it, Christmas arrived.  
  
Students weren’t allowed to stay in the dorm rooms over break, so he spent the two weeks in a motel downtown watching Christmas specials on a crappy black and white television and reading ahead for his classes the next semester. It was a decent Christmas compared to some of the holidays spent on the road hunting, but Sam was ready to get back to school.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
A balled up piece of paper smacked him in the side of the head and Sam glared at Brady. Classes started two weeks before but his workload was already insane. “What was that for?”  
  
“Because I just told you I was going to use my medical knowledge to try to get myself pregnant and you agreed with me,” he replied wryly. “But before that, I was asking you if you wanted to come hang out with a few people.”  
  
Sam learned early on last year that Brady’s definition of ‘a few people’ was either one person or a mob. His earlier thought that Brady would choose studying over partying because of his pre-med major turned out to be wishful thinking. “Just how many people?”  
  
“Becky and her new roommate. Probably Becky’s brother. Maybe a few more people.”  
  
“Becky?” Sam asked skeptically. “A&P study group Becky?”  
  
Brady grinned. “Ex-A&P study group and current girlfriend Becky.”  
  
Sam rolled his eyes. “I thought you didn’t date pre-med majors?”  
  
“She switched before break. She’s moved into a new dorm and got a new roommate, who is hot and single, by the way.”  
  
He sighed. “Brady, I told you I don’t want you hooking me up with anyone. I’ve got enough on my plate with classes that I don’t have time for anything else.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Brady said, waving his hand. “Just come hang out for a bit, okay? You need a break.”  
  
“We just got back from winter break!”  
  
Brady wouldn’t be deterred. “Come for an hour and then you can bow out. I bet when all the girls hear you’re a pre-law student, they’ll fall all over themselves in hopes that you’ll graduate, join a fancy pants law firm, get rich, and shower them with diamonds.”  
  
That sounded like the most uninviting plan for life ever, in his opinion. “You’re not helping your cause.”  
  
“One hour,” Brady said, his winning smile that scored him almost as many girls as Dean on his face. “And then I won’t ask you to socialize for a week.”  
  
Sam pretended to think about. “Three weeks.”  
  
“Two weeks and you have to have at least one drink tonight.”  
  
“Deal,” he said with a sigh. He would just pour the drink out when Brady wasn’t looking. It was probably the best compromise that would be offered that night. When he was staring at the crowded apartment full of tipsy college students complete with drinking games and blaring bad music, Sam almost reneged on the deal, planning to head back to the dorm.  
  
Brady grabbed his arm as soon as he spun around. “Either stay for an hour or I will make your life hell. You know I can do it, too.”  
  
Sam sighed and followed Brady inside the crowded apartment. This was going to be the start of one of those horror stories regarding roommates, he just knew it. Within ten minutes of being inside the party, a beer was spilled on him, a girl nearly puked on his shoes, and when he reached for the counter for balance as someone knocked into him, his hand came away sticky. The bathroom was occupied by a couple that, from the sound of things, were having a very, very good time.  
  
After finding a spot on the couch that wasn’t stained or covered in spilt drinks or chips, Sam sat down with a grimace. Brady disappeared into a throng of sorority girls and Sam was tempted to leave while his roommate was distracted. Just as he made the decision to head out, someone blocked his path.  
  
“Hey, Sam!” Becky said with a smile. “I didn’t think I’d see you here tonight.”  
  
“Brady made me promise to come for an hour, or he’d whine like a little girl while I tried to study.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
Sam breathed a sigh of relief when Brady swept in and put his arm around Becky.  
  
She laughed. “He’d be good at it, too.”  
  
Brady just rolled his eyes. “Hey, have you met her roommate? She’s around here somewhere.”  
  
He shook his head and tried to tell Brady that he really, _really_ didn’t need to be hooked up, but the man wouldn’t give up.  
  
“Jess!” Brady shouted, motioning her over. Sam bit his lip and managed to drag his eyes away from Brady when Becky’s roommate walked over.  
  
Sam’s breath caught in his throat. She was Becky’s height, which meant she was a good few inches shorter than him. Her blonde hair was in soft waves as it spilled over her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, unlike most of the other girls who dressed to skimpily impress in mini-skirts, halter tops, and high heels that looked like murder on the ankles. She held a red plastic cup in one hand and her other out to Sam. He blinked a few times before taking it nervously.  
  
“Hi, I’m Jessica. Call me Jess,” she said with a bright smile.  
  
Sam shook her hand. “I’m Sam.”  
  
Becky leaned over and looked in Jess’s cup. “What are you drinking? Is that just a Coke?”  
  
Jess laughed. “I said I would have a drink. I didn’t say there would be alcohol in it.”  
  
Sam looked down in his own cup full of whatever the hell constituted a beer in this place and made a face. He wished he had thought of that.  
  
“What’s the matter, Sam? Not having a good time?” Brady asked.  
  
“I would rather be studying. I have a test coming up soon.”  
  
“What’s your major?” Jess asked, taking up the spot next to him on the couch that was recently vacated.  
  
“Pre-law. Yours?”  
  
She grinned at him. “Art history.”  
  
“And that is my cue to head out,” Brady said with a grin. “Who wants a refill?”  
  
“Ooh, me,” Becky said, handing her cup over. Both Sam and Jess replied no at the same time, prompting them both to smile.  
  
He returned the shy smile and started up the conversation again as Brady walked away to refill his drink and Becky’s. “I pegged you for science,” he said honestly, which made her laugh.  
  
“And I pegged you for a sports jock. Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.”  
  
If only she knew the truth. His cover looked like a boring non-fiction piece, but underneath was one of a gruesome horror story. He banished the dark thought from his head and turned to fully face Jess.  
  
They talked about their classes and their homework assignments. Sam had no idea that art history was such an involved major but he could see Jess was really passionate about it. The way her face lit up when she talked about an artist or a painting made him smile in return.  
  
Their conversation stopped abruptly when Becky dropped her drink and shot up out of the chair she was sitting in.  
  
“That _bastard_!”  
  
Sam looked up at Becky, who was glaring at Brady, who was wrapped around a blonde who had her arms wrapped around his neck. Brady honestly looked like he didn’t want to be in the situation, trying to push away the drunk co-ed, but the damage was done.  
  
“Oh crap,” Sam muttered under his breath. “Damn it, Brady.”  
  
Becky stormed off and Jess looked after her. “I better go.”  
  
“I should too.” Brady peeled away from the blonde and stared after Becky with a stricken expression, but Sam knew from many nights with Dean and his jealous girls that going after Becky was a bad idea. He and Jess both stood and while Jess went after Becky, Sam kept Brady from doing the same. “Not tonight, Brady. You’ll just make things worse.”  
  
“Shit,” he said with a wince. “I really didn’t mean for that to happen. She just came at me and latched on while I was refilling my drink.”  
  
“I know. Why don’t we head out, go back to the room, sleep this off, and then you can talk to Becky tomorrow. She’s too angry right now.”  
  
Brady nodded. As they walked across campus, he suddenly turned to Sam. “I saw you checking out Becky’s roommate though. I told you she was hot, right? And single?”  
  
Sam just glared and walked faster.  
  
…………………………  
  
“I don’t care! I don’t ever want to see him or talk to him or, or, or even _think_ about him ever again!”  
  
Sam leaned back as Becky slammed the door in his face loudly and blinked at the wood. So much for his theory that Becky would calm down by the next morning. He had a little extra time between classes, and told Brady he would test the waters with Becky, but he also wanted to see Jess again.  
  
Just as Sam thought that wasn’t going to happen, he heard Jess’s voice muffled on the other side of the door. She opened it and slipped out quickly, closing the door behind her. “Sorry about that,” she said quietly. “Becky’s still a little upset.”  
  
“I figured that out all on my own, amazingly enough,” Sam said, and she grinned. “I just stopped by to see how she was doing. Brady honestly didn’t mean for that whole thing to happen.”  
  
“I know that, and I’m pretty sure she knows that. Brady was good to her, and he didn’t look like he welcomed the attention.” Jess hesitated. “But I would still watch out for Zach. He came by earlier and asked why she was upset. I think he’s going to play the older brother card and put the fear of God into Brady.”  
  
“Great,” Sam said sarcastically. “Thanks for the heads’ up though. It’ll be useful.” It was then that Sam noticed the backpack on her shoulder. “Class?”  
  
“Yeah. Sorry I can’t stay to chat, but maybe you can come by later? Becky may be calmer by then.”  
  
He nodded, even though he was doubtful that Becky would be willing to hear Brady’s apologies,. “Well, thanks for info anyway.”  
  
She smiled and hitched the bag higher, walking down the corridor. Sam sighed and shook his head. He meant what he told Brady. He didn’t have time for girls, and it wouldn’t be helpful to get in the middle of a lover’s quarrel.  
  
…………………………  
  
Becky and Brady weren’t meant to be, but luckily that didn’t mean that Sam wasn’t welcome as a friend in their little group. He brought Connor around who got along great with Becky’s brother Zach. They had dinner sometimes or a late night snack at one of the campus cafeterias after a study session. Sam realized that Connor was spending just as much time with Becky as he was spending in study group, but he hadn’t quite connected the dots.  
  
Sam was still oblivious until one night at dinner when Jess pointed out to him that the two had been dating for three weeks.  
  
“What?” he choked out, glancing over to Connor and Becky who were playing pool. It was just the four of them out that night. At first, he thought Connor arranged it that way so Sam would be close to Jess, but apparently his reasons weren’t so nefarious.  
  
Jess laughed lightly. “Oh, come on, Sam. Surely you noticed before now? Connor came by one night looking for you, and the two of them just kind of clicked.”  
  
“Is it serious?” Sam asked with a bit of trepidation, causing Jess to laugh again.  
  
“You sound so concerned.” She leaned closer and Sam was captivated by her bright eyes and the dimples on her cheeks when she smiled at him. “I think it’s cute that you care for your friend like that.”  
  
It took him a few moments after she leaned back in her seat for Sam to blink and realize what she said. He blushed, and she chuckled.  
  
That night, Brady also found out Connor was dating his ex-girlfriend. Brady slammed into their dorm room, startling Sam out of his studying. He had returned to his room early, despite the glare from Connor for doing so, not expecting Brady to come back so soon.  
  
“Something wrong?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah,” Brady snapped. “Your new buddy Connor was cozying up to my girlfriend.”  
  
Sam rolled his eyes. “She’s not your girlfriend, Brady. You guys broke up.”  
  
“Because some drunk sorority bitch fell all over me and you couldn’t convince Becky it wasn’t anything.”  
  
Sam narrowed his eyes. “Don’t pin this on me, Brady. Besides, you said that it wasn’t serious in the first place. Lighten up.”  
  
Brady slammed out of the room much in the same manner he slammed in and Sam shook his head. The more time he spent around Connor, the more Brady started to dislike him. Brady almost reminded him of Dean in some ways. He certainly had the mood swings of his older brother.  
  
As the semester drew to a close, Sam realized he would miss this group of friends he discovered. It was the first time he was going to dread summer. Usually, summer meant no hopping schools and getting to see his dad more often, even though the past years had been stressful between them. Now, summer meant…well, he wasn’t sure what to do over his first summer in Palo Alto. He wasn’t allowed to stay in the dorm and he didn’t have enough money to stay in a hotel or apartment, even the really cheap ones. Fortunately, Connor solved his problem for the first three weeks in July, inviting Sam to stay with him in Pasadena while his parents took a cruise. It would give Sam a change of scenery and also give them both time to finish summer assignments together.  
  
During the second half of May, Sam searched for a job and found one at a local coffee shop close to campus. The owner claimed that most people who wanted a job just wanted the employee discount and since Sam was willing to do any type of labor, he got a better pay than a normal worker. He also got to stay in the small apartment above the coffee shop next to the owner’s office for relatively cheap.  
  
When July came, even though Sam was grateful for the job and change of scenery from the dorms, he was even more ready to get the hell out of Palo Alto. Perhaps he wasn’t as ready to settle down in one town as he thought.  
  
The bus took him into downtown Pasadena, where Connor picked him up at the bus depot. Connor’s gray sport sedan pulled into the parking lot and Sam threw his bags into the back seat, settling into the passenger side with a sigh. Connor chuckled.  
  
“That bad of a trip?”  
  
“Dude,” Sam began with a relieved grin as he stretched out his stiff legs, “you have no idea.”  
  
On the drive to Connor’s house, they caught up on how they spent their summers so far. It was nice to socialize with someone outside of class. Connor was down to earth and serious about his studies but was always ready with a joke or a witty comment to break tension.  
  
When they pulled up to Connor’s house, Sam’s eyes widened. “That’s…a very large house.”  
  
The house wasn’t overly opulent, with two stories and a picturesque garden in the front. It was the kind of place Sam wished he grew up in but never had the chance.  
  
“Hence why I did not want to spend three weeks alone in it,” Connor said with a grin as he pulled the car up the drive and parked. He helped Sam bring in his bags and led him to the guest room where he’d stay. “Make yourself at home. The dresser is empty so feel free to empty your bags. You have a bathroom through your door to the left and the one on the right is a closet you can use.”  
  
Sam dropped his things off and followed Connor through the house on a tour. There were family photos on the mantle and sports trophies in a bookshelf to the side. A weathered leather recliner was off to the side with an end table pushed up next to it filled with various electronic remotes. Sam peered out through the large windows to the back porch where pool accessories were crammed into a bin. The lawn furniture looked worn, but sturdy and there was a beach ball in the middle of the table.  
  
The kitchen was to the right. The counters were clean but filled with kitchen appliances, jars, and spice racks. Pictures were hung by the wall near the breakfast table and a family portrait was stuck to the refrigerator door with a California state magnet. It was so…normal.  
  
“I thought about grilling some burgers tonight,” Connor said as he opened the refrigerator and pulling out a soda. He handed Sam the can then grabbed another one for himself. “Does that sound good to you?”  
  
Sam grinned as he looked around the house. “Sounds good.” But what he really wanted to say was “ _Sounds normal_ ”.  
  
…………………………  
  
After the first week of lounging around and doing absolutely nothing but relaxing at Connor’s house, they both decided to get an early start on their summer projects. It was vastly different than doing homework back in Palo Alto. For one, he didn’t get to lounge by the pool to do his Early Government reading while the radio played nearby with a lemonade and beer within arm’s reach.  
  
There had been an embarrassing moment for Sam when he realized he didn’t have swimming trunks which had gotten worse when he realized he never bought swimming trunks before. Connor took him to a nearby mall and laughed as he modeled the swimsuits with a red face and awkward stance. Finally, Sam settled on a pair and bought them.  
  
A shadow fell over his reading and he looked up, squinting through his sunglasses at Connor. “You’re blocking my light.”  
  
“Shut up,” Connor said, making a face. “I wanted to know if you finished that due process paper yet.”  
  
“I haven’t even started,” Sam said gleefully.  
  
With a loud sigh, Connor fell onto the lounger next to Sam. He was also in swimming trunks and a t-shirt. “I don’t know how to get started. I was hoping you had yours done so I could copy it.”  
  
Sam chuckled. “Liar.” Connor never cheated and even though he joked about it, Sam knew that Connor was serious about school.  
  
He also laughed and then reached over to swipe Sam’s lemonade. “Oh, by the way, your phone has been ringing almost non-stop.”  
  
Sam’s brow furrowed. “What? I haven’t heard it.”  
  
“It’s in your room. I heard it ringing before I came out here.” Connor grinned at Sam in a teasing manner. “It’s probably Jessica.”  
  
“Shut up,” he mumbled, embarrassed.  
  
From the moment Sam introduced Jess to Connor and his friend saw the two of them together, he noticed the looks Sam sent Jess, which he described as a forlorn puppy dog gaze. The teasing still hadn’t stopped months later.  
  
“Dude, when are you going to ask her out?” Connor groaned. “You like her; she likes you. What’s holding you back?”  
  
Sam didn’t answer, but he knew his reply. Getting close to him meant her life would be in danger when the supernatural came knocking. Even though he’d been monster-free for nearly a year, there was still the knowledge in the back of his mind that they could appear at any moment. A frown crossed his face.  
  
Connor shook his head. “Screw this,” he said, standing and quickly pulling off his t-shirt. Sam looked up at him, confused, until Connor started running for the pool. He barely had time to stuff his book underneath a towel before Connor’s cannonball caused a huge wave of water to wash over him.  
  
With a laugh, he pulled off his own t-shirt and started toward the pool, pushing all things supernatural from his mind.  
  
…………………………  
  
His time at Connor’s quickly came to an end. Even though Mr. and Mrs. Reilly asked him to stay a while, Sam knew that he would need more money soon and decided to get back to work in Palo Alto. The second year of his college life was coming up quick. Since things with Brady hadn’t been terrible, all girl issues aside, Sam agreed that they could apply to be roommates again and opt for the same Hall. It saved him from a new roommate who could be completely off the wall.  
  
When he moved back into Donner Hall in mid-August, it was like nothing had changed. Sam discovered that the first year was a walk in the park compared to the second one, but he was determined to continue to make good grades. So far, this life he had was good for him. He had a nice roommate who kept the partying to a minimum when Sam really needed to study, a close group of friends, and no demons or ghosts of any kind haunted him.  
  
He walked to his first class a bit bleary-eyed thanks to nervousness over his classes, which was why he nearly fell over when Connor knocked into him from behind.  
  
“Are you dead on your feet or something?” Connor asked with a laugh. “Usually I can never get the drop on you.”  
  
“First day jitters,” he said as an excuse. “It’s crazy to think I made it through a year of college. I keep thinking the second year is going to be so much worse and I’m going to fall apart.”  
  
Connor gave him a strange look. “Wow, you’re really a ‘glass is always going to be half-empty’ kind of guy, aren’t you?”  
  
Sam forced a laugh. “Past precedent.”  
  
He rolled his eyes. “Well, let’s get you into the ‘glass half-full’ mindset.” When Sam sent Connor a questioning glance, Connor grinned impishly. “Talked to Jess recently?”  
  
“Connor,” Sam replied with a groan. “Let me catch some air this semester, okay? We’re kind of gearing up to go to law school, and I need to stay focused.”  
  
He shrugged. “Whatever. I think you’re perfect for each other and you need a break in your studying time. That’s why we’re all going out this weekend.”  
  
Sam stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk and Connor took a few more steps before he realized his friend was not next to him.  
  
“What did you do?”  
  
Connor grinned and grabbed Sam’s arm, dragging him forward. “I texted Jess and told her we should do a group dinner. She and Becky are rooming together again. Becky said Zach is going to come and bring his new roommate, Luis. You can bring Brady, even.”  
  
Sam looked at Connor suspiciously. “You think Brady is a rich playboy who is throwing away his parents’ hard earned money and belongs in a booze-filled frat.”  
  
“I was just mad after the whole Becky thing.”  
  
Connor’s relationship with Becky hadn’t lasted more than a month and a half but they were still good friends. Sam hated to admit it, but he was glad for the split because things between him and Brady became less tense, although when Connor came around, Brady still acted like a colossal dick. Once, he even refused to let Connor in the room when Sam wasn’t there. Brady was jealous about the most stupid things, including the fact that he was the reason Sam knew Jess in the first place. Sam didn’t know why Brady kept bringing it up, because it not only made him sound like a child, but also highlighted the fact that Sam had done nothing to further his relationship with her.  
  
For a while, he tossed around the idea of asking Jess on a date, but every time he came close, he always chickened out, knowing that his old life could come up and bite him in the ass. It was a lame excuse, but one he held on to fiercely so the guilt of his own cowardice didn’t overcome him.  
  
Unfortunately, something normal ruined his life first.  
  
Brady returned from Thanksgiving break distracted and even more dick-like than usual. He was sleeping more, considerably irritable, had more severe mood swings than a girl, and his eyes were bloodshot. His bad attitude expanded past Connor and onto everyone he came in contact with.  
  
Sam wasn’t stupid. He knew the telltale signs of drug abuse. A nice university like Stanford wasn’t completely exempt from the druggies and alcohol-funneling students. It explained the crazy behavior his roommate had been having for a while.  
  
One of the things that bothered Sam was the fact that Brady always claimed to be above drugs. Most students tried to justify it by saying it helped them relax before a big exam, or they needed the drugs to help them stay up to study since Red Bull and coffee no longer helped.  
  
Two weeks after Sam began to suspect Brady was on a downward spiral, Brady surprised him and all their friends by dropping out of school. Sam thought the way he let everyone know was pretty crappy, too. Sam came in from his British Literature class to find most of Brady’s side of the room boxed up. He stood in the doorway, blinking in surprise.  
  
“Brady, what are you doing?”  
  
“Oh come on, Sam” Brady said harshly. “I’m not cut out for this.”  
  
“For school?” Sam asked slowly, coming into the room more. “You’re halfway through your pre-med degree. You’ve been doing fine.” His expression hardened. “It’s the drugs, isn’t it?”  
  
Brady froze, and Sam sighed. “The drugs?” Brady asked cautiously.  
  
“It’s obvious. Let me help you, man. You can beat this. Take next semester off and come back strong next year.”  
  
Brady shook his head and continued to pack up his things. Sam looked over all of the boxes and knew that Brady must have began the moment Sam left for his classes knowing that he wouldn’t be back until the end of the day. “Please, Brady. Let me help you.”  
  
Sam put his hand on Brady’s shoulder, but the other man flinched and shrugged it off like he’d been burned. “No, Sam. I’ve already made my decision. Now just leave and let me finish. I’ll be gone in a few hours. You and your buddy, Connor,” he spat, “can continue on like I’m not even here. Be careful, though. He might steal Jess away like he did Becky.”  
  
He tried to plead with Brady more, but his words had no effect. He felt completely useless sitting in the room, watching his roommate for a year and a half pack up his things and leave, but didn’t want to help either. With a sigh, he grabbed his things and left the room. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Connor’s number.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Connor, it’s Sam.” He paused, not knowing what to say now that he had Connor on the phone. “Brady’s leaving.”  
  
“What?” Connor asked after a large pause. “You mean like, leaving your room or leaving the University?”  
  
“Both,” he replied. “He’s packing up his stuff and withdrawing from classes.”  
  
Sam heard Connor sigh. “What brought this on?”  
  
He was hesitant to tell Connor about the drugs, but there was no sense in worrying in it now. “He’s been into drugs, Connor. All the signs are there, and when I confronted him about it, he didn’t deny it. Think about it; it explains his behavior recently.”  
  
“Sam, you’re going to be a lawyer. Just because he didn’t deny it doesn’t mean it’s true. He’s been a prick for quite a while.”  
  
Sam kicked at some dirt on the sidewalk. “Connor, stop being a lawyer and be a friend right now. Brady’s been doing drugs and now he’s throwing his life away! Just because you two had issues doesn’t mean you should be so childish.” He stopped walking, wincing as he replayed his words in his head. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”  
  
“Yeah, just a bit,” Connor said, his voice clipped.  
  
“It’s just…” Sam trailed off. “Brady is throwing away this awesome opportunity. It’s stupid and pointless. I know I haven’t really been there for him, but I still want to do something.”  
  
It was different for Connor, who came from a wealthy family from Pasadena and was given everything he ever wanted. It didn’t help that Connor and Brady got on like oil and water.  
  
“Sam?” Connor asked. “You there?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m here.”  
  
“You said that Brady has been acting strangely anyway, and has basically been a dick. This is his choice and he’s a grown-up. Hopefully he can realize what he’s doing wrong before it gets too bad.”  
  
Sam nodded to himself. “Yeah, I guess so. I just wish it didn’t happen like this.”  
  
“I know. I’ve got class in ten minutes, but if you want, you can swing by and get my key and hang out in my place until Brady clears out.”  
  
He sighed in relief. Sam didn’t feel like going to the library and Connor’s room was familiar and sure to be quiet. “Thanks, Connor. I’ll be by in a bit.”  
  
“See you then.”  
  
Sam hung up and stared at his phone a few moments before the screen went dark. Up until this moment, his college career had been relatively excellent. This was the first serious stumble. Shaking his head, he walked in the direction of Connor’s next class.  
  
…………………………  
  
“He quit? Just like that?” Becky asked in shock.  
  
The entire group was gathered around what had become their table at the bar off campus. Sam finished telling them the story of Brady’s dropping out and subsequent moving out. All of them, except Connor, were just as shocked as Sam had been when it first happened.  
  
“Just like that,” he confirmed. “I walked in on him about three quarters through packing, and ever since he left, I haven’t heard a word from him. I tried calling his parent’s house, but no one answered.”  
  
Becky was taking the news the hardest. Even though they quit dating and she moved on to other guys, they still talked. Jess sent a sorrowful look at Sam. “Do you know why?”  
  
Sam froze, unwilling to tell them about the drugs. Becky looked at him. “You do, don’t you? Sam, what is it? He’s our friend, too.”  
  
“Drugs,” he said hastily. “I think he’s on drugs. All the signs were there, and when I asked him about it, he just changed the subject.”  
  
Someone started rubbing his back and Sam looked over at Jess in shock. She gave him a sad smile. “It’s not your fault, Sam. I know you’re thinking it, but he’s a big boy. He’s an adult capable of making his own decisions, no matter how bad they may be.”  
  
He looked over at Connor, who shrugged. As one of his closest friends, Connor always told him the truth, even when he didn’t want to hear it, and this time was no different. “She’s right, Sam. He made his bed. Let him lie in it.”  
  
“Speaking of beds,” Luis said with fake casualness, “I guess this means one-half of your room is vacant.”  
  
Sam glared at him. Luis was the newest member to their group of friends, but his easy going nature made it easy to accept him. That didn’t mean Sam wanted to live with him. It would be nice to be alone for at least the rest of the semester, however short it was.  
  
“I don’t think so. I do most of my studying in my room and I need quiet. Don’t think I haven’t heard about how loudly you play your music during all hours.”  
  
“Worth a shot,” Luis replied with an easy grin and Sam shook his head, his thoughts turning back to Brady.  
  
Jess nudged him. “Sam, I know he was your friend, but you did what you could. Maybe he’ll come back around.”  
  
Sam shrugged and looked up at Connor, who quickly changed the subject. Zach had an arm around his sister, who looked close to tears.  
  
Perhaps Jess and Connor were right. Brady made his decision and there was nothing Sam could do just yet. He pushed all thoughts of Brady from his mind and chuckled at a joke Luis told, taking one last look at Jess. She caught him peeking and grinned before turning her attention back to the group. There was no guarantee she was going to be around forever either; the thought made Sam begin planning. If she was still at Stanford come January, he would ask her on a date and see where it took them.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam finally got the nerve to ask Jess on a date during the spring semester. She readily agreed and he took her to a nicer restaurant in Palo Alto. He butchered the names of the dishes, spilled some food on his lap, and almost tripped a waiter, but Jess laughed and smiled through the whole thing and told him she had a nice time. She also said that next time they could have a more casual date. The thought made Sam grin like a little boy who was given his favorite toy and that made Jess laugh again and lean forward to kiss him on the cheek.   
  
Even though he kept his plans a secret, told no one where they would go, when they would go, or what they would do, when he returned to his room after dropping Jess off, Connor was waiting for him with a knowing grin. Sam blinked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”  
  
He held up his phone. “Becky shot me a text when Jess got home. We’re going to compare notes later to see if there is a possibility for another date. Dude, did you really trip a waiter?”  
  
As he unlocked the door to his room, Sam kicked at Connor. His friend came in uninvited and flopped on the empty bed Brady vacated the previous semester. Sam never got a new roommate and liked living on his own for a while.   
  
“Well?” Connor asked, snapping Sam out of his thoughts.   
  
“Well what?”  
  
“Did you really trip a waiter?”  
  
Sam took off his jacket and threw it at Connor, which his friend took in the affirmative and started laughing.   
  
Despite the colossal screw up that the first date ended up being, the second, third and fourth dates went well. Almost two months later, Sam and Jess were going strong. He would look over at her in between bouts of studying and try to imagine a life without her in it, without her smile, her cute faces she made when he irritated her, the times when she would roll her eyes when he and Connor would do something immature. He didn’t want to picture it, but his pessimistic nature and the realist drilled in him thanks to his father started to drive a wedge between him and Jess.   
  
Sam expected things to go to hell since he finally had the normal life he always wanted. For a while, Jess picked up on his tension, which led to a less-than-fun fight between the two of them with Jess doing most of the yelling and him bottling up his feelings. Their mini-break up lasted all of one day thanks to Jess telling Becky and Becky telling Connor and Connor coming over to threaten to ‘kick his ass if he didn’t get his shit together’.   
  
After a full night of staying up and talking, Sam and Jess came to an understanding. Sam explained he had major trust issues thanks to his screwed up family upbringing and that he constantly expected the worst. He told her things he never told anyone, not even Dean, and she told him things that no one in her family knew. They both accepted that they had their issues, Sam definitely having the most, and wanted to work through them. It was a concept Sam wasn’t used to, since if he had an issue in the past, his father’s policy was to shut up and forget about it. It was just another thing that made Jess so special.   
  
Just as he finished getting his life together with Jess, Sam started to feel like the fiasco with Brady was happening all over again, except this time he was losing his best friend.   
  
At the end of his tirade telling Sam that he was an idiot for screwing things up with Jess, Connor let it slip that he was going on a trip to L.A. with his parents. At first Sam thought nothing of it, but when Connor returned, he was a different person. He was more withdrawn and jumpy. Before his visit, Connor was always laughing or cracking a smile, but Sam didn’t think he noticed his friend be anything but stoic since he returned.   
  
Sam slid into the seat across from Connor, noticing the way his moves were followed. At times, Connor reminded him of a wild animal. He put his hands on the table in between them, taking up the small space left that wasn’t covered in books. “So, how was L.A.?”  
  
“Hell,” Connor replied, and Sam saw the first small smile on his friend’s face in a week. “Not exactly like I remembered it.”  
  
“Look, I know it’s none of my business,” Sam began, “but you seem a little out of it, and I just thought I would offer to listen.”  
  
Connor looked up at him, an unreadable expression on his face. “It’s family stuff. Not too exciting. Just the normal dysfunctional issues.”  
  
Sam snorted, trying to push the bitterness down. He’d met Connor’s parents and even had a standing invitation to visit them whenever he wanted. They were so normal, so _wholesome_ , that it made Sam unreasonably jealous sometimes. “Dude, _my_ family is dysfunctional. But if you don’t want to talk about it, then I won’t press. You just seemed more closed off than normal.”  
  
He waited a few moments as Connor stared at the book in front of him. Just as he stood up, Connor sighed. “I met my biological father.”  
  
Blinking in surprise, Sam sat back in the chair. “I didn’t know you were adopted.”  
  
“I...didn’t either,” Connor replied slowly.   
  
“Did you meet your biological mom, too?”  
  
Connor shook his head and his jaw clenched. “She died giving birth to me. My father tried raising me on his own, but his particular lifestyle was too dangerous for me. So, he gave me to my mom and dad.”   
  
Sam tried to put himself into Connor’s shoes, but he really had no idea what that was like or what to say to him. “Wow. Um, what does your dad do that’s so dangerous?”  
  
“Undercover law enforcement. Life or death every day. Not exactly an environment to bring a child into,” Connor scoffed. “But that was then. Now he works at a law firm. My parents went to set up a trust fund, and my bio-father connected the dots. It was just chance that it happened.”  
  
Connor went back to his studying, leaving Sam to ponder all the what-ifs in his own life. Hunting was no environment to bring a child into, and life certainly would have been easier on him if he was raised by a normal family. “So what happens now?”  
  
He looked up from the books, frowning. “What do you mean?”  
  
“I mean, are you going to visit him? Get to know him? Write or email or text, _something_?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Sam was a little surprised at Connor’s terse response. “Why the hell not?”  
  
Connor glared at him. “Because I’m going to respect his wishes, Sam. My father gave up a lot when he gave me to my family. He wanted me safe. It would be stupid to make his selfless actions pointless by inserting myself in his life.”  
  
Sam really wanted Connor’s biological father to meet his own. For a moment, he allowed himself to envision a world where John Winchester recognized that his two sons shouldn’t be thrust into the hunting world and wanted them safe. His life could have been normal, like Connor’s, filled with soccer matches, spelling bees, and sleepovers. Dean would still be Dean, but there was the possibility that he would have settled down and had a kid that was like a mini-Dean.  
  
Connor’s explanation was logical, but that didn’t mean Sam understood. “I guess so.”  
  
He went back to his studying, but Connor looked up at Sam intensely. “I mean it, Sam. I’m happy where I am. My father has his own life and I have mine.”  
  
Sam nodded. “And I get that. _Trust me_ , of all people, I get that. I guess that I kind of wish my dad did what yours did--being responsible enough to admit that his lifestyle was too dangerous and giving me a new one.”   
  
Connor’s eyebrow went up. “Is the mighty Sam Winchester actually going to talk about his family?”  
  
Now he was the one who was tense, but Sam played it off as a joke, giving Connor a smile, however fake it was. “No. I wouldn’t submit anyone to that torture. And I’m over it now. I’m grown up, going to an awesome school, dating the best girl in the world, and I have complete assholes for friends. How could it be better?”  
  
Connor flicked a paperclip at him and he laughed, rubbing the stinging area where the metal hit his skin.   
  
“At least you have a normal last name,” Connor said after a few moments.   
  
“What are you talking about?” Sam scoffed. “Your last name is totally normal. What’s not normal about Reilly?”  
  
“Before I was adopted, I had my father’s name.”  
  
Sam just looked at Connor expectantly. “And?”  
  
“My name is Connor Angel,” he said with a sigh.  
  
Sam stared at Connor for a moment, trying to sense if it was a joke, but Connor just looked at him dejectedly. He threw his head back and laughed loudly, attracting curious stares from the other patrons.   
  
“Your last name… is Angel?” he said between chuckles.   
  
“Yeah, yeah, Winchester. Laugh all you want.”  
  
He snickered some more but finally settled down. “Look, I’m heading back to the room to study. Come by later if you want to go over your internship resume, Mr. Angel.”  
  
Connor glared at him but Sam chuckled and slid out of the seat, heading toward the exit. Just as he was about to walk out of the coffee shop, Sam looked back at Connor and furrowed his brow. A tall man had just walked up to the table where Connor was sitting. When Connor looked up, the tension went out of his face and Sam realized that his friend looked relaxed. When the man sat down and looked around the coffee shop, Sam blinked in surprise. They looked scarily alike.   
  
Connor caught his eye, grinned, and nodded slightly, answering the unasked question of the man’s identity. Sam looked back to the man—Connor’s father. This would need to be a private time, but Sam decided to sit down and pull out his own notes. He would stay, just in case Connor needed something. His friend would do the same for him if the positions were reversed.   
  
Hours must have passed but Sam was absorbed in his homework. Every once in a while, he would flick his gaze toward Connor and his biological father, but they were deep in conversation and Sam didn’t feel like disturbing them. Just as he was beginning to wind down and head out to meet Jess, a shadow fell across his table. He looked up and was surprised to see Connor’s father standing by the table.   
  
“You’re Sam?” he asked quietly, and Sam nodded. “I’m…Connor’s father. His biological father.”  
  
He chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I know. Connor told me about it before you got here.”  
  
“I’m sorry if I interrupted your studying time,” he said, his brow furrowing.   
  
“No, it’s fine. I can study just fine on my own,” Sam said, and they dissolved into an awkward silence.   
  
Connor’s father finally broke it. “Right, well, I just wanted to introduce myself, and I know that I’ve never met you before now, but I wanted to know if you would do me a favor?”  
  
Sam was curious, but he was also cautious. “And that would be?” he trailed off.   
  
“Look after Connor,” he said, and Sam’s eyebrows shot up. It was a strange request. “I know that I don’t know you and even though Connor and I just…met, I care a lot about him. I want him safe. He says you’re his closest friend, so that’s why I’m asking.”  
  
The man seemed incredibly nervous, but Sam got that he wasn’t used to the whole parenting thing since he’d been out of Connor’s life since Connor was young. “I’ll do that.”  
  
“Thanks,” the man said. He looked over at the bathroom, and when Sam looked at the table, Connor wasn’t there. “I’ve got to go. I have…somewhere I have to be. It was nice meeting you.”  
  
Sam watched Connor’s father leave in the night, staring out the door long after his shadow disappeared. When Connor dropped his books on Sam’s table, he jumped and glared at his friend.   
  
“Well?” he asked after a moment of silence.  
  
“That was my dad,” Connor answered. “The bio one, I mean.”  
  
Sam nodded. “I got that. What did he want?”  
  
Connor stared out the same door his father had walked out moments ago. “Just to stop and chat.”  
  
He was confused. “Wait, I thought you both agreed to keep to your separate lives?”  
  
“We did,” Connor replied thoughtfully then began packing up his things. “I’m going to be gone for a few days.”  
  
Sam blinked in surprise. “You’re _what_? What do you mean you’re going to be gone for a few days?”  
  
Connor stopped packing and looked up at him with a raised brow. “What part of that did you not get?”  
  
“Stop joking, Connor,” Sam said sternly. “Finals are next week. We’re half-way through our degrees. We start applying for internships soon.”  
  
“And I just finished my resume, courtesy of my father’s help,” Connor said with an easy grin. “He’s been working for a law firm and has a real knack with loopholes. Being a lawyer runs in the family. I guess it’s in my blood to become one.” It was reminding Sam of the laidback friend he had previous to the L.A. trip. While it was nice to see him again, he was going to stay focused.   
  
“Which won’t happen if you fail these tests.”  
  
He sighed. “Sam, stop worrying. I’ll be back by Saturday, which will give me plenty of time to finish studying. I’ll be fine.”  
  
As Connor slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the coffee shop, Sam felt like he was already breaking the promise he gave to Connor’s father.   
  
…………………………  
  
After Connor’s mysterious disappearance at the end of the previous semester and his quick return, Sam watched his friend more closely.   
  
During the entire week of their second year finals, Connor was detached, sad, and inattentive. They all finished their finals and started planning for their summer, but Connor seemed content to go home and do nothing.   
  
Sam had finally saved enough money to buy an apartment close to campus so he could stay by himself and not worry about getting a new roommate since Brady’s departure and planned to work all summer. He was the only one staying in Palo Alto but promised to keep in touch with all of his friends.   
  
On the day the dorms were emptying out, Connor and Luis helped Sam move into his new apartment. Zach and Becky already returned home to St. Louis and Jess flew to her parents’ in Michigan the day before.   
  
Just as they finished bringing in the last boxes, Connor’s phone rang. Sam watched closely as his friend cautiously answered, but his expression quickly changed as the call went on. It was a short call, but when he was done, Connor was trying to hold back his grin.   
  
“Connor?” Sam asked softly so Luis wouldn’t hear.   
  
“My dad,” he said, shoving his phone back in his pocket. Sam didn’t miss the emphasis and knew Connor meant his biological father. “He called to let me know he was okay.”  
  
“Okay? Was he hurt?” Sam asked. It certainly put the conversation they had when he had gone to meet Connor in the coffee shop into perspective.  
  
“No,” Connor replied quickly. “Well, it’s kind of complicated, but everything is okay now.” He smiled at Sam. “Everything’s fine.”  
  
That night, a sylph—an air elemental—suffocated everyone inside of the coffee shop.   
  
Sam hoped that it was a one-time occurrence, that the sylph was acting on its own, but as the summer wore on, more and more demonic activity plagued the campus and the town. A bit of research online to websites he thought he was done surfing proved that Palo Alto wasn’t the only place with a surge in supernatural forces. Most of California was feeling the effects of something that happened in Los Angeles in May, but no one really knew what exactly had occurred.   
  
At first, Sam desperately wanted to ask Connor, especially since his biological father lived there. Then again, Sam knew that asking Connor about anything supernatural was going to make his friend lock him up in an asylum.   
  
August arrived just as hot and blistering as usual, but Sam was dreading his upcoming semester. The entire summer was spent either working or researching. He hadn’t called Dean yet to tell him about all the monsters he was now faced with. Sam was trying to stick to research and stay away from the actual hunting, but it was getting harder. Poltergeists, sirens, wraiths, even a damn chupacabra had taken up residence in town at some point during the summer.  
  
When everyone moved back into the dorms, Jess wanted to plan a nice dinner get together so they could catch up on what everyone had done during the summer. Sam didn’t know what the hell he was going to say, but he was good at lying through his teeth.   
  
One thing he noticed was that Connor was back to his normal self, but he was much more tense than usual. He didn’t think anyone else had picked up on it until Becky glanced between the two of them.   
  
“What is up with you boys? You’re both looking at the shadows like you expect a ghost to jump out at you.”  
  
Sam worked his jaw, her spot-on statement throwing him for a loop, but Connor was apparently better at thinking on the fly than him.   
  
“LSATs are coming up this year. Plus, we’re done with most of our gen ed courses now and we’re getting into concentration stuff. Internship applications are due and then we have to worry about law school interviews next year. It’s stressful.”  
  
Sam knew that was a lie, but everyone else seemed to eat it up. Jess put her arm around Sam and kissed his cheek. He smiled at her and tried to pay more attention to the conversation. The rest of the night went smoothly. Sam walked Jess back to her dorm room, promising to see her the next day.   
  
As he walked back to his apartment, Sam unsheathed the sharp hunting knife he hid on his calf before going to dinner and gripped it tightly, hiding it within his sleeve. There was a gun strapped to his midsection on his left side and a small knife sheathed in his side pocket in his jacket. Monsters appeared left and right in the past months. Most of the time they disappeared on their own; Sam figured they left town or that a hunter was taking them out. After entertaining the thought that maybe his dad or Dean were the ones taking out the creatures, he became depressed, because that meant they didn’t bother letting him know they were in town.   
  
He tensed up after hearing footsteps behind him. Whoever was following him was doing a good job of masking the footsteps, but he was a trained hunter and could pick up the sound. Just as he spun around to face his follower, he was blindsided by something that knocked him off his feet. The hunting knife was knocked from his grasp and landed with a thump in the grass.   
  
The monster loomed over him. The creature looked human, but the voice was unearthly, as were the sharp teeth. It held down his arms and Sam barely managed to grab his gun before his hand was wrenched away. He quickly fired and the bullet went through the thing’s shoulder. But more importantly, the wound sizzled as the being drew back screeching.   
  
“It burns!”   
  
“Silver bullets,” Sam said with a grunt as he stood and grabbed his knife. It was also silver and would help a long way if he happened to run out of bullets.   
  
When the revenant came toward him again, he holstered his gun and slashed with his knife, wanting to save the bullets. He got in two good slashes to the chest and then stabbed his side, making black, thick blood ooze out the side. The revenant dropped to the ground but Sam put two silver bullets in the head just to make sure.   
  
Once the revenant died, the body began to disintegrate until nothing was left except dust. That was the only good thing about revenants—there was no cleanup.   
  
Sam heard a twig snap behind him and he spun around with his knife in one hand and the gun in the other. He blinked in surprise when he realized Connor was the one behind him about twenty feet away, staring at him with equal surprise. He tried to figure out how he could explain what just happened without sounding completely insane.   
  
Before he could do so, another revenant came up behind Connor and grabbed him. Sam rushed over, but Connor threw back his head and it connected with the revenant’s with a loud crack. Connor didn’t seem phased at all; instead he spun around out of the revenant’s grasp, landed two solid punches and then executed a perfect roundhouse kick. His foot made contact with the revenant’s head so hard Sam heard the neck crack as the skull was disconnected from the spinal column and the revenant went flying about ten feet back.   
  
Connor was barely panting as he looked at the motionless body. He then gestured over to it. “Mind putting one of those silver bullets in his head? I really don’t want to have to fight him again if I don’t have to.”  
  
Still blinking and trying to find the words to ask what the hell was going on, Sam obliged and finished off the revenant with two bullets to the skull, ensuring the undead body would stay dead. The body crumbled to dust and scattered as a light breeze blew through.   
  
That left Sam and Connor staring at each other. The tense silence stretched out until Sam finally broke it. “Okay, what the _hell_ was that?”  
  
Connor scoffed. “You’re the one who just pulled a silver knife out of nowhere then proceeded to get slash happy with a revenant. And who carries silver bullets in a gun? Since when do you carry guns period?”  
  
Sam sheathed the knife on his right calf and put the gun back in its holster. “Since when are you capable of beheading someone with a well-placed kick to the head?”  
  
His friend’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been doing this since I was a baby.”  
  
Sam scoffed. “So have I.”  
  
The tension grew as they stared harshly at each other. When police sirens started to blare faintly in the distance, both looked quickly to the side in the direction of the noise and then as one ran to the shadows. Sam should have known someone would call 911 due to the gunshots.  
  
“Come on, we can go to my townhouse,” Connor said, darting off to the right.   
  
“What?” Sam shouted. Connor was fast, but his long legs gave him a boost to keep up “Since when do you have a townhouse?”  
  
“My father got it for me, now come on! It’s closer than your place!”  
  
The sirens were getting louder so they pushed themselves farther. Hoping that this wasn’t a trap, Sam followed Connor to a newly built townhouse complex. Connor quickly entered a few numbers on the keypad and the light on the pad turned green, allowing Connor to wrench open the door. Once inside, they didn’t run, but still walked quickly to the elevator.   
  
They both leaned against the back of the elevator, breathing heavily. They didn’t speak at all during the ride up to the third floor. When the doors opened, Connor pulled his keys out from his pocket and unlocked the door to the townhouse.   
  
Sam’s eyebrow rose at the brand new, modern space. “This is yours?”  
  
Connor grinned. “Crazy, right? My dad paid for it. Said he didn’t want me to staying in dorms that I couldn’t ward.”  
  
For a few moments, it had been like neither had just killed something supernatural while the other watched, but at Connor’s reminder, both clammed up.   
  
“So,” Connor said after clearing his throat. “Do you want something to drink?”  
  
“I want answers, Connor,” Sam replied.   
  
“So do I. But who goes first?”  
  
Sam sighed. “How about we share? Both of us tell a bit of our lives, starting from the beginning, no holds barred. When we’re finished, we can go from there.”  
  
For a moment, Sam thought Connor wouldn’t agree, but he nodded and turned around, rummaging through the cabinets. “In that case, I really will need something to drink. And probably something to eat.” He turned around to glance at Sam. “You sure you don’t want anything?”  
  
This was Connor, his best friend. If he was honest with himself, his first real friend that liked him just because he was Sam and not because he had killed something coming after him. Connor was always honest with him, and Sam tried to do the same. When he needed help adjusting, Connor was there. When Brady went off the deep end, even though Connor didn’t like him, he helped Sam through it. When he and Jess were about to break up because of Sam’s trust issues, Connor was the one who really encouraged him to try to fix it. Now they were about to tell massive secrets about each other, and Sam still felt like he could trust Connor.   
  
“Why not? I have a feeling this will take a while.”  
  
Connor chuckled. “You have no idea.” It was silent for a moment before Connor cleared his throat. “How did you find out about the supernatural?”  
  
Sam fiddled with a bag of chips on the coffee table in front of him. “When I was six months old, something evil killed my mother. Ever since then, my dad has been hell-bent on finding whatever killed her and avenging her death. My brother Dean and I were just along for the ride. You?”  
  
Connor rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. “You know my dad? My biological one?” Sam nodded. “He’s a vampire.”  
  
Sam stared at Connor, expecting his friend to crack a smile and say he was just joking, but the moment never came. “You’re serious? A vampire? Your father is a _vampire_?”  
  
“My mom, too.”  
  
Sam stood up and started to pace, unable to store his nervous energy. Connor was thankfully silent as he continued his trek across the living room. The little information he knew about vampires was zipping through his mind as he tried to come up with some rational explanation. “You realize that’s impossible, right?”  
  
Connor nodded. “It is. Vampires can’t create life. They only destroy it. My biological mother was staked by my father years ago, but was brought back through some powerful magics as a human. She was also dying. To save her, my father went through powerful trials to give her a second life, but she had already been granted that just by being alive again. Even after she was turned back into a vampire, that second life my father earned for her had to go somewhere. That’s where I come in.”  
  
Sam was still shaking his head, unable to wrap his mind around the concept of a human born of two vampires. Of course, Connor already proved that he was no normal human.  
  
“So, are you…” he trailed off. Thankfully instead of being insulted, Connor just chuckled.   
  
“I’m not a true vampire, but I do have some of the perks of one. Extra strength, quickened healing, heightened senses—I have it all with none of the drawbacks.”  
  
Sam rubbed his face roughly. He was having trouble seeing his friend Connor and the supernatural machine Connor together. “How am I just now finding out about this?”  
  
“Because I didn’t know about it until April,” Connor replied. “I wasn’t exactly raised in the most stable environment.”  
  
Sam was becoming more confused by the minute. “Your life with the Reillys is awesome.”  
  
Connor shook his head sadly. “Sam, I wasn’t raised with that family. You have to forget everything you know about me. I wasn’t even born until 2001.”  
  
Sam knew this had to be a joke, but Connor’s face was devoid of all humor. Gone were the easy grins and amusing expressions. His friend’s face was made up of hard lines and serious stares. This wasn’t the Connor that he knew. It was someone else. His expression was one Sam had seen on many hunters, Dean and his father included, over the years.  
  
“I still don’t get it. We started here at Stanford in 2002. How is that possible?”  
  
“I was raised in a hell dimension, Sam,” Connor said slowly. “I was screwed up. I was brought up to be a killer, a hunter.” He chuckled dryly. “I was the most socially awkward kid you’ve ever seen. I was the epitome of the phrase ‘fucked up’, believe me.”  
  
Things were starting to make sense. “Your trip to L.A. last spring and your weird behavior…” he trailed off.   
  
“The reason we went to L.A. in the first place wasn’t to set up a trust fund. I was struck by a van and had no injuries.” Connor sighed. “I should have died, but I walked away without a scratch. My memories were coming back like a fuzzy dream I was trying to remember the day after, and my abilities were starting to manifest. The Reillys needed help understanding what happened and by fate’s design, they went to my father for answers. I gained my full memories back and ever since then, I’ve been trying to make sense of them all.”  
  
“Memories?” Sam asked with a confused face. “What are you talking about?”  
  
That haunted look came over Connor’s face again. “In addition to the truly crap way I was raised, some things happened that would make a normal person go insane. I was ready to end my life. I’d seen so much death and destruction. I didn’t know who to trust. My dad made a deal to give me a new life, one where I was raised normally. From the moment the deal was set, the memories of my old self were erased from everyone I knew and I was given a new memories and a new life as Connor Reilly.”  
  
Sam fell back onto the couch in shock. He thought his life was screwed up. “Do you really expect me to believe all this?” he asked slowly.   
  
With a sigh, Connor reached under the coffee table. Instead of pulling something out, like Sam expected, his friend lifted it into the air without even a huff of struggle. Sam’s eyes widened.   
  
“I know what you are, Sam,” Connor began. “I know _who_ you are. I have memories of you from my previous life. Your father is notorious in hell. The Winchester name isn’t all that pleasant.”  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sam snapped.   
  
“Would you have believed me?” Connor asked incredulously. “Even after that display with the revenant tonight, you still don’t. I just picked up a coffee table with no effort and you’re still questioning me.”  
  
While that was true, picking up a coffee table and being born of two vampires were completely different things. “It’s kind of hard to believe, Connor.”  
  
“Given what you know of the supernatural, you should accept it quicker,” he shot back.  
  
It was quiet as Connor let him gather his thoughts again. Sam suspected he was in shock and would take a few days to come to term with everything he had been told.   
  
“I used to think the only traumatic thing that happened to me was when I got lost in a department store when I was five.” Connor stared off and Sam recognized the haunted look on Connor’s face. He saw it every time he looked in a mirror after a hunt with Dean and his dad. “Now I only wish something so normal had really happened.”  
  
Before Sam could reply, Connor shook his head and finished his soda. “I know your life as a hunter sucked, Sam. Trust me, I know. But you had people with you who loved you and weren’t using you for their own gain. Hunters are close like family. It beats the alternative I had to live with.” He began to pick at the metal pop top on the can and didn’t meet Sam’s eyes. “You were the first person to befriend me just to have a friend.”  
  
Sam gave Connor a lopsided grin. “The same here.”  
  
At that moment, he didn’t care that his internal voice that sounded like his brother and father was screaming at him to destroy whatever Connor was, but it was Connor. For at least one night he wanted to pretend a little while longer that they could be friends.  
  
“How did you spend your summer?” he asked lightly.  
  
“Hunting monsters,” Connor replied flippantly. “You?”  
  
“Same.”  
  
They finished telling their stories as the sun peaked over the horizon. Hearing stories about Connor’s real past was like listening to horror stories told around a campfire at night, but the only difference was that Sam knew these monsters were real. Even though he wouldn’t think it possible, some of the stories he told to Connor were received with wide-eyed amazement.  
  
Sam was glad that it was a weekend and they didn’t have classes until Monday. They were both buzzed from the alcohol they eventually consumed and emotionally exhausted after spilling their life stories. They collapsed on the couches and slept until just after noon.  
  
Sam woke when Connor poked him in the side with a water bottle and pushed some aspirin into his hand. He groaned.   
  
“Call Jess. She’s worried because you haven’t been answering your phone,” Connor said groggily.   
  
He groaned and popped the pills, finishing the water Connor gave him. His phone was in his pocket, turned on vibrate, and Sam winced when he saw the number of phone calls, texts, and voicemails. He called Jess, and she picked up before the second ring.   
  
“Sam Winchester! Where the _hell_ are you?!”  
  
“Oh god, please don’t yell,” Sam said with a groan. Connor snickered as he started the coffee pot in the kitchen.   
  
“I can yell all I want! I’ve been worried sick about you. Your neighbor said you didn’t come home last night and then those students were attacked on the same route you take from my place to yours and—”  
  
“Wait, what?” Sam said, sitting up, forgetting about his headache. “What do you mean students were attacked last night?”  
  
Connor spun around at Sam’s words and came closer, concern on his face.   
  
“I mean that a group of students were found practically ripped apart an hour after you dropped me off. They were close to your apartment and I was worried when you didn’t pick up your phone.”  
  
“I’m with Connor. I stayed the night here.” Sam rubbed his eyes. “How many students died?”  
  
Connor sighed loudly and sat down heavily on the couch. His phone started to ring and he pulled it out of his pocket, making a face at the caller ID. “Hi, Dad.”  
  
Sam tried to listen to Connor’s conversation but stuck with Jess when she started giving him details.  
  
“—and they’re telling us to stay in the dorms but Becky and I are really worried, Sam. Zach wants to get a hotel room and stay there and I don’t want to be alone.”  
  
He winced. What he really wanted to do was hunt whatever had massacred the students, but he couldn’t do it with Jess right behind him.   
  
“Why don’t you come stay with me until this guy is caught, all right? I can walk you to and from class.” Connor’s eyebrow rose as he looked at Sam, but he was still talking to his father. Sam just shook his head. “When is Zach picking up Becky?”  
  
“In an hour.”  
  
“I’ll be by then to pick you up, too. Make sure you have everything packed for a while, okay?”  
  
“Thanks, Sam.”  
  
Sam hung up with a sigh and leaned back into the couch, watching Connor pace back and forth.   
  
“Dad, I told you. I can handle it,” Connor growled out. “I am capable of finding out what murdered the students. I’m not going to throw my college career out the window to go hunting. I told you that I’m happy where I am, and I meant that.”  
  
With a jolt, Sam realized he wasn’t talking to Mr. Reilly, but to his biological father. It made sense that he would find out about the supernatural attacks and want to make sure Connor was all right. Dean was probably getting word and worried as well.  
  
“No, I understand. If it becomes too much, I’ll let you know and have you send someone to take care of it. Bye, Dad.”  
  
Connor let out a loud groan as he flopped onto the couch. “Of course all hell had to descend right when we start our upperclassmen courses.”  
  
Sam snorted. “Seriously. So, any idea what attacked the students? Jess said it looked like they were mauled by a wild animal and then eaten.”  
  
“Rugaru. It’s a werewolf-like monster that craves meat, eventually turning to humans to feed.”  
  
He nodded. “We kill it by setting it on fire, right?”  
  
Connor made a face. “I doubt we’ll be able to catch it. According to dad, it’s already moved to the next county over.”  
  
“That or there’s more than one,” Sam added.   
  
“Shut up,” Connor said, tossing a pillow at him as he sat up. “So, Zach and Becky are staying in the town proper?”  
  
“Yeah. Jess is scared and wants to stay with me, so I guess I’m stuck with staying in for a while.”  
  
Connor laughed. “Do not even pretend that this is a burden for you. You get to have your girlfriend live with you while you protect her from the big bad monster.”  
  
“What are you going to do?” Sam asked and Connor paused. “You’re not going to go hunt this thing, are you?”  
  
He shrugged. “Like you said, there’s a chance it’s still around. It won’t stop until it’s burning. I have 24 hours until school starts, and that’s 24 hours I can spend hunting this thing.”  
  
Silence filled the townhouse. Their long discussion from the night before seemed like it happened years ago, not hours. Knowing that there would be waves of monsters heading up through California didn’t give Sam a good feeling, but he didn’t want to give up what he had either.   
  
“Connor, what are we going to do?” Sam asked. “We both spent our summers hunting down monsters and now we’re back here, trying to go to school. We can’t do both. I don’t think I want to do both. I like my life now.”  
  
“I do too,” Connor confessed. “But I also can’t ignore people dying around me when I can help it. It’s in my blood to help. I can’t just refuse.”  
  
Sam bit his lip. “What if we only do a little bit? What if…what if we live our lives here first, and hunt second?”  
  
Connor paused and thought it over. “You know it’s usually the other way around?”  
  
“Yeah,” he replied, “and I’ve done it that way around. It’s not for me. I left that life, and so did you. We might still be able to help people, but I want to be selfish and say to hell with it.”  
  
He started to pace as he mulled Sam’s words over. “So we hunt, but only when we have the time for it or it’s really pressing.”  
  
“We can trade off if we need to. We’re both capable of working small cases on our own.” The more Sam argued about it, the more he was almost excited about finding a way to both help people and live the life he wanted. “And then when we need to study, we study. If it gets too out of hand, we both have people we can hand off cases to.”  
  
Connor didn’t look as happy with the solution as Sam did, but then it was literally in Connor’s blood to be a hunter. It wasn’t in Sam’s.  
  
Finally, he nodded. “I think that will work. We’ll be safe, smart, and won’t let this impact our lives.”  
  
Sam stood, looking at his watch. “I need to run by my place and clean up a bit, then go pick up Jess. You going hunting?”  
  
They shared a small grin at the question. Connor unlocked the decorative chest that Sam realized wasn’t so decorative and pulled out knives to strap to his person. He glanced at Sam’s jacket, where his gun was holstered. “We might have to do a weapon’s trade off. Most of my stock comes by way of sharp and pointy things.”  
  
“And mine have a tendency to go boom. We’ll also need to trade lore stories.”  
  
It was surreal that Sam was having a conversation about hunting and not throwing a fit, but he meant the promise he made. He wasn’t going to let hunting ruin the life he made for himself.   
  
On the first night they decided to go hunting together, a night after study group when they finished early, it was almost awkward. Connor had various knives strapped to his body while Sam stuck to two pistols and a short blade.   
  
It became pretty clear that their two styles were too different and their approaches too complex to explain to the other. Connor depended on his sheer strength when attacking while Sam thought out his moves and relied on a monster’s weakness to break it. When situations called for two fighters, they did fine, but for the most part, they decided to split the responsibility and alternate nights to patrol the university.  
  
It took a while for Connor and Sam to find a rhythm as they tried to split their lives with emphasis on their schoolwork. In the end, Connor was the one who found the solution. Trading off nights to hunt worked out well, until their finals week of that semester arrived. A demonic force was gathering on the north side of town and both had a project due. Sam lost sleep for two nights over the situation, knowing that the only time they could attack would be during the day, when they had tests.   
  
Connor solved all the problems when he put in a call to his father, who immediately sent a team to stop the demon. Sam and Connor passed their finals and the demons were vanquished. He hadn’t realized how hard it would be to trust that another person could get the job done, but now he had faith in Connor’s contacts and he’d even anonymously sent out word of cases through the web to other hunters he knew Dean trusted.   
  
And so began the rest of Sam’s life. He had a great girl, a great friend, and a balanced life that he could handle.


	3. Chapter 3

"We might have a problem.”

Sam wished there was a wall nearby that he could slam his head into. Of course there was a problem. He was studying for the first test in his Ethics and Constitutional Law class, which the professor promised would be hell on earth. Even though Connor said he already experienced hell on earth and his class was nothing like it, Sam was still studying his ass off.

They were on a tight hunting rotation this week. Both had major projects and tests due but the supernatural nightlife wasn’t increasing, so they never called in for someone else to take care of the problem.

“What’s the problem?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“I’m looking at a dead djinn.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah. Except I’m not the one who killed it.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Maybe it just died?”

“Sam,” Connor’s exasperated voice said over the phone, “you kill them with a silver knife dipped in lamb’s blood. Since the djinn’s throat has been slashed, I think it’s safe to say he didn’t ‘just die’. Did you let hunters know we were stretched thin this week?”

“No. Did you call your dad?”

“I didn’t want him to worry.”

He snorted and his lips turned up at the corners. Telling Connor’s dad not to worry was like telling a bird not to fly. “So, if it wasn’t your dad and it wasn’t hunters, who was it?”

“Looks like we have new players in town.”

With a groan, he flipped his law book closed. “Need help with the body?”

“I’ve got it covered on this end, but we really need to figure out who took out the djinn. Think you can do some research?”

Sam already opened his laptop and was typing away. “Jess is having a girls’ night out with her friend Alexis again, so I’m free to look over this stuff. If you need to, head over here after you’re done. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

They hung up and Sam spent the next hour looking over various websites for hunters. No one was in the area or even near the west coast. The farthest anyone checked in was Utah. With that dead end, Sam looked up more information in djinn. This was the first one Sam ever encountered but Connor knew what he was talking about when it came to demons opening up fantasy dimensions.

A knock on his front door broke his concentration. When he glanced out the peephole and saw Connor’s irritated face looking back at him, he chuckled and opened the door. “How did the…”

Sam trailed off when he noticed the woman standing behind Connor. He awkwardly cleared his throat and tried to play things cool. “How did the studying go?”

“You can relax,” Connor muttered as he stormed inside. “She knows.” He went straight to the kitchen and when Sam heard the refrigerator open and a beer bottle clink, he knew this wasn’t good.

He spun around to look at the woman again, who was now openly grinning at Connor. She was Connor’s height with long, straight brown hair and big blue eyes. Even though her shirt was ripped and had places where dirt and grass blades stuck to it, she was still the epitome of what his brother would have called “smokin’ hot”.

Not waiting for an introduction, she kicked her boots against the door frame to get the mud off and swiped at her dusty jeans. “Sorry about him,” she said lightly. “He’s pissed that I know who he is and he had no idea who I was.”

Without waiting for an invitation, she also walked past Sam. He stared at the empty doorway before closing the door and turned to face the new woman. “I’m sorry; who are you?”

She held out her hand with a grin. “Dawn Summers. Nice to meet you.”

He shook her hand numbly. “Sam Winchester.”

“You’re a hunter, too?”

The question shook him out of his surprised stupor. “I’m a what?” he asked nervously.

“I told you,” Connor said sullenly from the kitchen. Sure enough, he had an opened beer in one hand and was holding another out for Sam. “She knows. And take it. You’ll need it after tonight. Trust me.”

Sam took the beer and looked between Connor and Dawn, not understanding the tense undercurrent running between them. “Why don’t we all take a seat and talk this through?” he asked slowly. Connor took another drink of his beer when Dawn walked past him with a grin. He could already tell this was going to be a long night.

…………………………

Sam stared in shock at Dawn. She just finished telling her story involving her sister, the Hellmouth, and every apocalypse she and her group of friends averted. If he never met Connor and hadn’t heard some of the crazy antics his father got up to, he never would have believed it.

And he finally understood some of the reasons Connor didn’t like Dawn too much. Her older sister had turned his father into a psychopathic murdering vampire during their relationship but then again, Connor’s father didn’t need too much of a push.

Dawn’s story took quite some time and Sam still had studying to do. He wasn’t the only one feeling lack of sleep, because Dawn stood up and stretched. “So where am I bunking?”

“You can’t stay here,” Sam said quickly, panic clear in his voice. “My girlfriend could come in any time and she can’t see you.”

“So?” Dawn asked. “Just tell her who I am and that I needed a place to crash.”

If only things were that simple. “She doesn’t know who I really am. She doesn’t know what Connor and I do.”

Dawn’s laugh was devoid of humor. “You’re really trying to keep that a secret from your girlfriend? Who sometimes lives with you?” She snorted. “Yeah, that’s going to work out well. There is no balance for people like us. Trust me. My sister tried it plenty of times and it never worked out. Hell, I’ve tried it. It’s useless.”

Connor stood up, his stance defensive. “Not everyone has a world of support around them like you.”

She put her hands on her hips and squared away with Connor. Sam felt the urge to jump behind the couch and take cover.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Whose father is the leader of the undead in Los Angeles with worlds of support? Literally? I would kill to have his access to all his research.” A dreamy expression came over Dawn’s face. “I mean, have you seen the library? I thought the Watcher’s Council had the market on demonology texts.”

“When were you with my father?” Connor asked in a low tone.

This time, Sam scooted toward the end of the couch away from both Connor and Dawn. Even though he only had his memories back for a year and was still coming to terms with the warring emotional conflicts in him, Connor was still very protective about his father.

Instead of giving an answer, Dawn shut her mouth quickly and turned away. “It was a while ago.”

Sam winced. She was a terrible liar.

“Why are you here, Dawn?”

With a huff, she turned back around. “He’s just worried about you, Connor.”

“Oh shit,” Sam muttered, melting into the couch. He hoped none of the backlash that was going to come from the impending emotional storm came his way. As much as he loved his father and was protective of him, Connor was fiercely independent and didn’t take kindly to his father’s “check-ups”.

“I can take care of myself. He knows that!” Connor snapped. “So you can scurry on back to him like a dutiful minion.”

Dawn’s eyes narrowed. “I am not a minion, Connor Angel,” she said, stalking forward. She brought up her right hand and began poking him in the chest. “I was working on some rune translations. Angel had the books I needed. In return for looking at them, he asked if I would check up on you since he knew you were going to have a tough semester here at your prissy little school. I’m leaving in a week. Until then, you’re going to play nice and stop being so damn surly.”

Sam’s mouth was wide open as he watched the exchange and he could tell Connor was shocked as well. When Dawn spun around quickly to stare at him, he almost jumped. “Now, where can I sleep?”

“You can’t stay here,” Sam said apologetically. “But Connor’s place is empty and nice. You can crash there.”

The look he received from Connor promised painful retribution, but he was more scared of Jess coming over to find a strange woman in the apartment that he couldn’t explain.

“Fine with me,” Dawn replied before Connor could protest. “As long as Wonder Boy doesn’t snore, I’ll sleep anywhere. Before I go, bathroom?”

Sam pointed down the hall and Dawn disappeared into the bathroom. Connor was glaring at him. “You just volunteered my place for her to spend her week? She can stay at a hotel or, better yet, go back to L.A. or wherever the hell she came from.”

“Dude, Jess would kill me if she found Dawn here and you know that she won’t stay in any hotel. She definitely won’t leave. Let her play out her little mission for your dad and maybe he’ll leave you alone,” Sam reasoned.

“Yeah,” Connor said a grunt, “or he’ll take it as me saying I’m okay with a babysitter and I’ll have a permanent thorn in my side.”

He hadn’t thought of that, and he winced. “Well, maybe it won’t come to that. Until then, just keep her at your place, away from here, and I’ll take over your hunting nights as payment.”

“Screw that,” Connor said. “I’ll need to kill something after a week with her.”

Dawn finished up in the bathroom and came out, an expectant look on her face. “Well, what part of ‘I’m tired’ do you not understand?” she asked, stalking past both Connor and Sam. With a huff, Connor reluctantly followed. Before they left, Dawn stopped in the doorway and turned back to Sam. “Word from the wise? Tell your girlfriend the truth. If she really loves you, she’ll understand. Secrets this big just tear people apart.”

Sam just shrugged in response. With a dark glare, Connor slammed the door once the left, leaving Sam in his empty apartment again.

…………………………

He would never tell Connor, but Sam thought Dawn was nice. He kind of liked her, unlike Connor, who ignored Dawn every time she was in the vicinity and couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her. It was impossible to keep her completely a secret, so she was introduced as a friend of Connor’s family. She and Jess bonded immediately and Luis flirted with her, something that amused Sam and pissed off Connor. But the thing that amazed him was that no matter how badly Connor acted, Dawn didn’t care. When he asked Jess about it, she just shrugged.

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” she asked, getting a glass of water from the kitchen sink. She filled another for him.

“Jess, if it was obvious, I wouldn’t have asked,” Sam said with a grin.

“Sam, he’s just embarrassed,” she explained, handing him the water. “Their parents are old friends, they grew up together, and now they’re sleeping together? He probably doesn’t know how to deal with it.”

Sam had just taken a drink of his water, but at Jess’s words, spit it out, choking as he tried to gasp in air. Instead of worrying about him, she laughed at his reaction. “You didn’t know? Connor didn’t tell you?” Still coughing, he shook his head. Jess laughed more. “She told me the first night.”

Once he stopped coughing and could finally speak, he looked at Jess in shock. “He’s sleeping with Dawn?”

Jess walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Ask him yourself.”

“You’re sleeping with Dawn?” Sam asked loudly the next day as he met up with Connor to walk to their class together.

Connor punched him in the shoulder and didn’t hold back much. Sam was going to have a bruise, but he didn’t care. “Keep it down!” he hissed.

“You are?” His jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“It’s weird, okay?” Connor explained. “I mean, my dad and her older sister used to date. I can’t exactly explain that to our friends, but you have to see how weird this is for us.”

Sam snorted. “Apparently Dawn has no qualms about it, because she told Jess the first night they met.”

Connor’s hand wrapped around Sam’s arm and pulled him to a stop. “Jess knows? Did she tell Becky?” he asked urgently. “Because you know Becky will tell Zach and Zach will tell Luis and Luis will tell…”

“…everyone,” Sam finished. “She promised she wouldn’t tell anyone, even Becky. Your secret is safe.” Connor breathed a sigh of relief and they continued walking. “Dude, you’re such a freak.”

He got another punch to the arm for the remark, but it was worth it. And when Dawn left a week later, he pretended not to notice his friend sulking at her absence.

…………………………

With the exception of Dawn’s short visit at the beginning of the semester, the end of Sam’s third year passed quietly. He and Connor contemplated when to take their LSATs, something they would need for law school. Sam knew that finals were going to be brutal and he didn’t feel comfortable enough taking the tests so soon after. The next time offered was October, and so he set his date. To ease his load for his final semester, Sam decided to take two courses offered in the summer.

The classes kept him busy so his boredom and loneliness was at bay. Once they were done, Jess flew down for two weeks and they decided to spend their vacation in San Francisco. On the last leg of his last summer as an undergraduate, Sam took another vacation to visit Connor in Los Angeles. The town was weird, and not just because it was teeming with supernatural activity.

All too quickly, summer ended and it was time for everyone to return to reality. Jess was now a permanent fixture at his apartment, not even bothering to sign up for housing. Because of his heavier class load, Connor decided to take the LSAT offered in December while Sam was ready in October. The day the envelope arrived with his test scores, he opened it with trepidation, but there was no need. All the extra time studying, the extra classes in the summer, and the hours spent going over his law books paid off and he lined up an interview to stay at Stanford. Jess wanted to get her Masters in Art History and wanted to stay at Stanford, and he wanted to be close to Jess.

She was proud of him and it shone on her face. She insisted on telling everyone and bragging about him wherever they went, even though it embarrassed the hell out of Sam.

But tonight was the worst. Sam was dreading this more than he dreaded the LSAT. Jess’s grip on his hand was firm. There was no way he could escape it. He hated Halloween but Jess insisted that he needed to celebrate his interview and his LSAT score with their friends at the Halloween party.

Jess stopped in front of him and Sam heard her sigh. He peeked over her nurses’ hat and grinned. Connor was waiting at the table, along with Becky, Zach, and Luis, but he wasn’t dressed in a costume, just his normal faded shirt and jeans. Sam grabbed the seat next to him.

“Where’s your costume, man?” Luis asked, delivering a round of shots to the table.

“I don’t do Halloween. I told you guys that already,” he replied. Before he could protest, a shot was dropped in front of him. He glanced over at Connor, who made a face and held up his own shot. Judging by the empty glasses in front of him, Luis had been pushing shots on the group for a while. Lucky for Connor, he could hold his liquor. With a sigh, Sam threw back the shot--whiskey--and grimaced.

“All right, I’m heading out.”

Sam glanced over at Connor in surprise. “But I just got here.”

Jess and Becky laughed when Connor rolled his eyes. “I’ve been here for nearly an hour. It’s not my fault you’re late. Besides, I have the LSAT in a month and a half, and unlike some people, I didn’t breeze through pre-law like it was a kindergarten math test.”

“Oh please,” Zach said with a snort. “Like you and your brain twin over here aren’t going to blow the rest of the country out of the water. What was his score again?”

Jess smiled as she looked over at Sam. “174.”

“And that’s good?” Luis said as he threw back a shot of his own.

“Scary good,” she confirmed.

Luis nodded and turned to Connor. “So now all you have to do is make a 175 or I will make fun of your girly ass for the rest of my life.”

He scoffed. “The highest score possible is a 180. I’ll be lucky to get close, but it would be nice. I could pick any school I wanted.”

Becky nudged Sam’s leg under the table to get his attention. “Where do you want to go? Harvard? Yale?”

Sam chuckled and ducked his head. Jess was grinning at him; she already knew about his plans. “I have an interview for the law school here on Monday. If things work out the way I want them to, I’ll have a full ride and get to stay.”

Everyone around the table toasted him and he got a few slaps on the back in congratulations. “How does it feel to be the golden boy of the family,” Zach asked.

Luis put another shot in front of him and while he normally would have stopped, after a question like that, Sam thought he deserved a few more drinks. “Ah, they don’t know.”

“Why not?” Becky asked incredulously.

“I would be gloating,” Zach said.

“Can you see Sam gloating? Because he’s always held his intellect over the rest of us in the past,” Connor said with a laugh, but Sam shot him a thankful look for sparing him a half-assed explanation.

Everyone else joined in the laughter, until Becky groaned. “Oh no, what’s he doing here?”

The group looked over to where a bunch of guys were crowded around a pool table, laughing loudly and pushing each other around. They were obviously drunk and trying not to sway too badly. In the middle of them was Brady. His ex-roommate showed up at random times to get drunk with the local alcoholics and druggies, constantly throwing his college failure in Sam’s face. He heard Jess sigh, and when he looked at her apologetically, she shook her head. “That’s his choice, Sam. You did what you could. If he wants to throw away his future in medicine, it’s his choice. Tonight, we’re here to have fun.”

Luis accentuated her statement by plopping a tray of shots in the middle of the table, but Sam only rolled his glass in between his fingers. He was watching Connor, who had his eyes narrowed in Brady’s direction. Sam nudged him and gestured over. “What’s up?”

Connor shook his head and turned away from the group. “It’s probably nothing. My senses are going nuts in here. I keep seeing demons but I have to remember they’re just costumes. Halloween always did suck. I think I’m going to do a quick patrol then head to bed. Dad said that Halloween is usually quiet, but that I shouldn’t get comfortable.”

Sam nodded. “You need help, you call.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, mother. Enjoy the rest of the night.”

Connor stood, slapped Sam on the back, and slipped through the crowded bar. Jess’s hand on his knee prompted him to turn back around. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

Sam made himself grin. “Yeah, I’m great. Although I’m cutting myself off. I swear it’s Luis’ life goal to get us all drunk.”

“I’m proud of you,” she said suddenly, leaning forward.

“For not getting drunk?” he asked with a small smirk. He loved the looks she gave him when she knew he was being a smart ass.

“For really applying yourself. You’re going to knock ‘em dead on Monday, get the full ride, and become an amazing lawyer.”

It was worth the grief he’d gone through to get here, he decided, as he looked into Jess’s smiling face. “What would I do without you?”

“Crash and burn,” she replied flippantly before pulling him into a kiss.

…………………………

Since Connor volunteered to take the patrol, and since he promised it was going to be a light night, Sam went home with Jess. She immediately showered, put on her pajamas, and crashed into bed. Sam took his time, cleaning up the kitchen from the quick dinner they had before they hit the bar.

He was almost asleep when a crash sounded in the other room. Sam’s eyes popped open and he held his body as still as he dared. He could feel the body heat from Jess at his back, so it wasn’t her. Connor wouldn’t have made a sound, and would also text or call if he needed Sam.

Being as quiet as possible, Sam walked to the edge of the bedroom to see if he could identify who – or what - fell. He quickly saw the open window in the living room and his heart beat started to race. All of the windows were closed and locked; he’d checked them himself before he went to bed. He picked up a baseball bat he kept in the corner and slipped into the hallway, breathing deep and staying on his toes. Just as he looked around the corner, the clear shape of a man walked quickly through the other side of the house. Sam inhaled sharply before moving to intercept him.

Just as he predicted, the figure went through the kitchen and back into the living room. Sam waited in the shadow of the bookcase until the figure was almost completely in front of him, and he took a swing at the intruder.

Before the bat hit its target, the shadow whirled around, throwing his arm up and jabbing Sam quickly in the solar plexus. The bat was lost in the scuffle and Sam depended on his hand to hand to win the fight. He was swung around and a boot kicked his midsection, but he was able to remain upright.

The intruder clearly had training, getting in a lucky punch that made his jaw pop painfully. He let out a low growl and attacked harder, lashing out with a kick before his throat was caught in a tight grip and he was thrown the floor.

It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the face peering down at in him. Sam stared up in confusion, because the person looked a hell of a lot like his older brother.

“Easy, tiger.”

Oh yeah. It was Dean.

Sam panted, trying to catch his breath and get his heart rate to calm down. “Dean?” His brother just chuckled lightly. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“That’s because you’re out of practice.”

He was a grown man and the statement made him feel like a child. Sam lurched up, using his left leg to latch around Dean’s back, and flipped their positions so that Dean was the one pinned to the floor.

“Or not,” he said with a grunt. “Get off me.”

Sam stood and helped Dean up off the floor. There was no greeting, inquiry of how school was, or what had been going on in his life in the years since they’d seen each other, and Sam preferred that. It made it easier to face his brother. “What are you doing here?”

“Well I was looking for a beer.”

He rolled his eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, his tone firmer.

Sam saw in Dean’s eyes when he realized that the jokes and grins weren’t going to get him anywhere. “Okay, all right. We gotta talk.”

He’d been waiting for Dean to walk in and say that to him for years, but now that Dean was here, his words brought dread to the pit of Sam’s stomach. Instead of relief and acceptance, anger was bubbling up inside of him. “Uh, the phone?” he bit out.

Dean gave him the ‘you’re an idiot’ look that he could clearly make out, even in the dim light. “If I’d called, would you have picked up?”

Two years ago, Sam would have said maybe, even though his dad’s order to stay gone still rang in his ears. One year ago, he would have said yes, because finding out about the nightlife around Stanford was almost too much for him and Connor. Now, judging by the sudden urge he had to punch Dean in the face for walking back into Sam’s life at the worst time possible, Sam was guessing no.

Before he could reply, the light switched on. Sam sighed in resignation when he saw Jess standing in the doorway, glancing at Dean before sending a questioning look. “Sam?”

Even though he was crap at it, Sam tried to play things cool. “Jess, hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend Jessica.”

“Wait,” she cut in excitedly, and Sam wanted to groan. He knew Jess longed to know more than he would divulge when it came to his family, and had on more than one occasion been jealous that he and Connor were close and knew secrets about each other. Meeting Dean was not the best crash-course introduction to the Winchesters, although Sam was sure his dad would have been worse. “Your brother Dean?”

“I love the smurfs,” Dean said with an easy grin as he pointed to her shirt, or more importantly to Dean, her chest. Then he started to walk over to her and Sam resisted the urge to pull him back by his jacket. “You know, I gotta tell you. You are way out of my brother’s league.”

Sam rolled his eyes, but noticed the grin on Jess’s face. He was half-hoping she would slap him, but it wasn’t in her nature to get violent. It was one of the reasons Sam dreaded hunting around Stanford in case she got involved.

“Just let me put something on.”

“No, no, no, I wouldn’t dream of it. Seriously,” Dean interrupted. Sam clenched his jaw, wincing a bit since it still smarted from the punch Dean delivered earlier in the scuffle. There was no need to worry though, because his brother backed off and came back towards Sam. “Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business, but, uh, nice meeting you.”

He froze at the words private family business. He used the same quote with all of his friends over the years when he brushed off their questions abut his life before Stanford. It was an easy out in any conversation, but coming from Dean, the phrase brought up too many memories of cleaning guns and laying salt lines.

If things were truly important, Dean would have called; Sam walked over to Jess and put his arm around her. When Dean saw that Sam was happy, perhaps he would leave. “No. No, whatever you want say you can say it in front of her.”

Jess squeezed his middle and Sam took a deep breath, knowing Dean wouldn’t say anything about hunting in front of a civilian.

“Okay, um...dad hasn’t been home in a few days,” Dean said easily.

At first, Sam thought Dean was just joking with him, but his brother was serious. Growing up, their dad disappeared days on end and most of the time they never knew where he was. “So he’s working overtime on a Miller Lite shift. He’ll stumble back in sooner or later.”

His first hint that things were more serious than he thought was when Dean took a deep breath and actually looked up at Sam with something akin to apology. “Dad’s been on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.”

Sam’s gaze was locked onto his brother, even though Jess was looking up at him in confusion. His heart was racing and his arm went slack around her shoulders. “Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside.”

She nodded and Sam all but marched outside, pushing Dean out after him. As soon as the door slammed behind them, he leaned forward. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here, breaking into my apartment, and then telling me that dad’s on a hunting trip?”

“It’s not just that, Sammy. He’s missing, and I need your help.” Dean spun on his heel and descended down the stairs, leaving Sam to gape after him before rushing to catch up.

“That’s it? Seriously? I mean come on; you can’t just break in, in the middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you.”

Dean continued, either not caring that he was screwing up Sam’s semi-normal life or unaware of it. “You’re not hearing me, Sammy. Dad’s missing. I need you to help me find him.”

Sam scoffed. “You remember the poltergeist in Amherst, or the devil’s gate in Clifton?” Those were only a few instances he could think of off the top of his head. “He was missing then too; he’s always missing and he’s always fine.”

Dean stopped and turned around. “Not for this long. Now you gonna come with me or not?”

Sam took a deep breath to steady himself. “I’m not.”

His brother honestly looked confused at his answer. “Why not?”

The lie nearly caught in his throat, and he realized he was being a complete hypocrite, but it was the only way to convince Dean he wouldn’t go. “Because I swore I was done hunting for good.”

Dean rolled his eyes at him. “Come on, it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t that bad.”

Sam didn’t care that he’d just lied outright to his brother, but he did care that Dean tried to make it sound like their life had been a walk in the park. “Yeah? When I told dad when I was scared of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45.”

“Well what was he supposed to do?”

“I was nine-years-old!” he retorted. “He was supposed to say don’t be afraid of the dark.”

They stopped right inside the iron gate leading out of the apartment complex. Dean glared at him. “Don’t be afraid of the dark?” he asked incredulously. “What, are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what’s out there!”

Oh, he knew all too well. No matter how he tried to escape, the things that go bump in the night still caught up to him. “Yeah, I know, but still—the way we grew up after mom was killed, and dad’s obsession to find the thing that killed her, but we still haven’t found the damn thing, so we kill everything we can find.”

His brother was still unapologetic, and had hardened slightly at the mention of their mother. “Save a lot of people doing it, too.”

Two nights before, Sam and Connor saved a young couple who were attacked by vampires in an alley by the movie theater. Their grateful, tear-stained faces flashed in his mind, but he quickly pushed them aside. “You think mom would have wanted this for us?” Sam knew was pushing a bit too far, but if that’s what it took….

As an answer, Dean pushed the gate open angrily and walked out into the open air. “The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors.”

“So, what are you gonna do? You just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?”

Nothing about his life right now was normal, but it was loads better than the alternative. “No. Not normal,” he replied. “Safe.”

“And that’s why you ran away?” Dean scoffed, his disbelief plain.

Sam stared at Dean, his own disbelief stirring. “I was just going to college,” he said slowly. “It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. And that’s what I’m doing.”

That brought them back to why Dean showed up in the first place, and his brother nodded. “Yeah, well dad’s in real trouble if he’s not dead already. I can feel it. I can’t do this alone.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “Yes, you can,” he ground out.

Dean broke his gaze and look off to the side. “Yeah. Well, I don’t want to.”

Sam knew Dean’s mannerisms, his speaking patterns; this was his brother’s way of admitting that he missed Sam, that he needed his brother. In the end, they were both two boys who grew up too much too fast, who had a father who was missing. He could do this for Dean. Sam sighed and caved. “What was he hunting?”

When Dean opened the trunk, Sam ignored the small grin on his brother’s face. “All right, let’s see. Where the hell did I put that thing?”

There was something that was bothering Sam with the whole ordeal. “So when dad left, why didn’t you go with him?”

“I was working my own gig,” Dean replied, rifling through the guns and knives stored in the trunk of the Impala. “This voodoo thing down in New Orleans.”

“Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?” Sam asked, a small grin on his face. Their dad tried to keep them out of hunting as much as could, so it was strange for him to think of Dean having his own trips.

Obviously, it wasn’t that big of a deal with the look Dean gave him. “I’m 26, dude.” He found what he was looking for, and pulled out some papers. “All right, here we go. So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy...” Sam took the paper Dean gave him, “they found his car but he’d vanished, completely M.I.A.”

He was unimpressed. “So maybe he was kidnapped.”

“Yeah well, here’s another one in April, another one in December ’04, ’03, ’98, ’92. Ten of them over the past 20 years, all men, all same five mile stretch of road.”

Sam looked at the stack of papers Dean threw down as he rattled off the dates. He couldn’t refute the pattern, and sighed.

“Started happening more and more so dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn’t heard from him since, which is bad enough. Then I get this voicemail yesterday.”

Dean pulled out a small recorder. A voice Sam hadn’t heard in years broke the silence in the parking lot.

“Dean, something is starting to happen, I think it’s serious. I need to try to figure out what’s going on.”

Sam leaned closer, trying to make out the words through the static.

“Be very careful Dean, we’re all in danger.”

Dean turned off the recorder at the end of the message.

Sam sighed. “You know there’s EVP on that?”

“Not bad, Sammy,” Dean replied with a grin. “Kind of like riding a bike isn’t it?”

He shook his head.

“All right. I slowed the message down, and ran it through a Gold Wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got.”

This time, instead of their father’s voice and static, a woman’s voice whispered. “I can never go home.”

The voice brought a chill to his skin and he barely shivered. “Never go home,” he repeated softly. It was the same phrase he repeated to himself daily when he’d first arrived at Stanford. Fate had a sick sense of humor for bringing back his past with the same phrase. He was snapped out of his reverie when Dean threw all the information back in the trunk and slammed it shut. Sam stood awkwardly while Dean locked it up.

“You know in almost two years I’ve never bothered you. Never asked you for a thing.”

It was the truth, and with all the evidence against their dad, Dean made a case for needing Sam’s help. It would only be the once, and then he could go back to living his life the way he wanted. “All right. I’ll go. I’ll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday.”

“What’s first thing Monday?” Dean asked, and Sam grimaced.

“I have this… interview,” he said slowly.

“What, a job interview? Skip it.”

Sam glared, unsurprised by Dean’s reaction. “It’s a law-school interview, and it’s my whole future on a plate.”

His brother looked honestly surprised. “Law school?”

Sam didn’t want to hash over the fine details of his college career. “So we got a deal or not?”

Dean nodded and Sam pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He didn’t want to leave Jess here alone, especially with the rise in demon activity. He sighed, flipping his phone open, and dialed.

“Yeah?”

Connor didn’t sound asleep, which was good, because when Connor lost sleep, even his parents didn’t want to mess with him. “I need you to come over. It’s an emergency.”

Sam heard Connor grab his things and a few metal clanks. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got to go out of town for a few days and I need you to watch out for Jess.”

Dean had been listening to the conversation, and Sam could tell he was less amused and more curious the farther the conversation went.

“What’s wrong?” Connor asked, and Sam took a deep breath.

“My brother’s here. There’s a family emergency.” There was silence on the other side of the line. “Connor?”

“He’s there to take you on a hunt, isn’t he?” Connor asked after a moment.

Mindful of Dean’s openly curious gaze, Sam licked his lips nervously and turned away from his brother. “Look, I can’t talk about it, but I don’t want to leave Jess here alone, so I was hoping you could crash in the spare room until I get back.”

“I’ll head over as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Connor,” Sam said with a sigh as he flipped his phone closed. “Let me head back in and pack my stuff, then give Connor my key.”

Dean was still leaning against the trunk of the Impala, his gaze hooded. “Who’s this Connor person you’re trusting to watch over your girl?”

There was no way Sam could tell him who and what Connor really was, or that he and Sam had been taking odd hunting jobs around Palo Alto for over a year and a half. Instead, he settled for a half-truth. “He’s a pre-law major, like me. We’ve had tons of classes together, and he’s my good friend. I just feel better with someone in the apartment with Jess at night.”

Sam didn’t give Dean much time to argue before he went back inside the building and bound up the stairs, quickly entering the apartment and heading straight to the bedroom. He could hear the bathroom sink running and took advantage of the time Jess was in the bathroom to grab a few weapons he had stashed in a duffel before throwing some clothes on top.

Jess came into the room and stopped short when she saw him packing. ”Wait, you’re taking off? Is this about your dad? Is he all right?”

He let out a nervous chuckle and shoved more clothes into the bag, wincing when something metallic clanged. “Yeah, you know, just a little family drama.”

She didn’t look like she believed him as she sat on the bed beside the bag he was packing. “But your brother said he was on some kind of a hunting trip.”

Sam paused as he grabbed another shirt out of dresser, trying to think of a quick excuse that didn’t sound like complete crap. “Yeah, he’s just deer hunting up at the cabin and he’s probably got Jim, Jack, and Jose along with him. We’re just gonna go bring him back.” He looked up at Jess and felt guilt rising when he saw how concerned she looked. “But until I get back, Connor is going to stay here and make sure nothing happens.”

Jess blinked in surprise. “What? You’re making Connor babysit me?” She sounded incredulous and worse, angry.

“It’s not babysitting, Jess. You heard about that couple that got attacked last week, and the girl who was kidnapped the week before? I want you safe.” Sam pulled her into a hug. “I can’t lose you. Crash and burn, remember?”

She was tense in his arms, but she slowly relaxed. Sam cherished this moment with her in the quiet of their apartment.

The moment was ruined when Jess pulled away, crossed her arms, and glared at him. “What about the interview?”

“I’ll make the interview,” Sam replied with what he hoped to be a reassuring grin as he went back to the duffel bag. He zipped the bag up and tossed it over his shoulder. “This is only for a couple of days.”

Just as he was about to grab his keys, Jess stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. “Sam, please, just stop for a second. You sure you’re okay?”

Sam sighed and turned back to her. “I’m fine.”

Jess looked understandably upset. “It’s just…you won’t even talk about your family and now you’re taking off in the middle of the night to spend the weekend with them? And with Monday coming up which is kind of a huge deal.”

“Hey, everything’s gonna be okay. I will be back in time. I promise.” Sam kissed her and turned around, grabbing his keys and heading out the door. When Jess shouted after him to tell her where he was going, he pretended he couldn’t hear her anymore.

Connor was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, a smaller bag and his backpack by his feet. He glanced up when Sam got close. “Your brother’s an ass. You know that?”

Sam winced apologetically. “Sorry about that. What did he do?”

“Besides the military-style interrogation I just had and the many insults to my masculinity?” Connor slumped back further against the wall. “Do you know how hard it was not to punch him? He’s got a girly face, too.”

He bit his lip so as not to grin at Connor’s petulant tone. “Sorry,” he said again.

“Whatever,” Connor gruffly responded. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

Sam hitched up the duffel on his shoulder. “Dean just showed up and said that our dad has been out of touch after going on a hunt three weeks ago. I’m going with him to Jericho. That’s where dad was, investigating a bunch of deaths on a stretch of road.”

Connor looked unimpressed. “And what about Monday, Sam? Are you going to be back in time for your interview?”

“I’ll be back,” Sam said, exasperation creeping into his voice.

“We promised ourselves we would do what we could as long as we were safe, smart, and it didn’t interfere with our lives,” Connor said firmly. “This isn’t safe, smart, and is possibly going to interfere with one of the decisions that could impact the rest of your life.”

Sam snorted. “I’m sorry. Who ran off the week before finals to help his dad fight?”

Connor glared at him, not arguing the point. “Does Jess know the plan?”

“She thinks Dad’s drunk out in the woods and Dean and I are going to bring him back. That’s it.”

For the first time all night, Connor cracked a grin. “How did she take you running off and leaving her with me?”

“I have a feeling I’ll be sleeping on the couch next week.”

Connor laughed and held out his hand for Sam’s keys. With a sigh, he gave them to Connor and headed outside. “I’ll call with updates and to check on Jess. See you Monday.”

Sam threw his bag into the backseat of the Impala and folded himself into the passenger seat. He buckled his seatbelt, and he felt like the past three years never happened. Still, this was a bit different, even as Dean handed him his research on the case and a map. He had a home to come back to, with friends and a girl counting on him returning in one piece. He had a safe life to come back to, and as he looked over more information on the men disappearing in Jericho, his resolve to stay safe strengthened.

“So I heard you were a jerk to Connor,” Sam began as they pulled away from the apartment complex. “He’s my best friend. You didn’t have to do that.”

Dean snorted. “I just wanted to make sure some monster wasn’t creeping up on you. He looked shady.”

“He looked shady?” Sam asked skeptically. “That’s the best you’ve got?”

“It’s the truth!”

“He’s doing me a favor, Dean,” he replied. “I’ll probably owe him another because of your comments.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, he’s protecting your girl or whatever. For one thing, I doubt anyone that small could be able to defend against teddy bears let alone burglars.”

Sam half-hoped he would be able to witness Connor tossing Dean across the green one day. “Yeah, and?”

Judging by the grin on Dean’s face, what he had to say next wasn’t complimentary. “You don’t have to worry about your girl doing the horizontal tango with your friend.”

A small smile crept onto his face. “And why is that?”

“She’d have to be a lesbian to go for a man that girly.”

Sam chuckled and went back to reading.


	4. Chapter 4

They found the room where their dad was staying easily. After looking over the information about their diving ghost, Constance, Dean declared he was going to have a shower. Since he thought his brother smelled like a toilet, Sam wasn’t going to argue. It wasn’t his fault Dean didn’t have the sense to grab onto the bridge when he jumped over.   
  
Sam noticed he had a voicemail on his phone and smiled as Jess bitched about Connor being even more overprotective than Sam usually was, but how it was nice that he had no qualms about kicking Luis and Zach out whereas Sam was too polite to do so. After the voicemail was done, he glanced down at his watch. Jess would be in class, but Connor would be free.   
  
The shower was still running, so Sam dialed Connor’s number and sat on the edge of one of the beds, his eyes drifting over the articles his dad put up on the walls. Dean would be out of the shower soon, but he still wanted to check in at home.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Hey, Connor. It’s Sam.”  
  
“Hey, how’s it going?”  
  
Sam chuckled lightly. “A ghost possessed Dean’s car and nearly ran us over early this morning. We had to jump off the side of a bridge to avoid death. It was an interesting start to the day.”  
  
“You’re just saying that to make me jealous that I’m not there.”  
  
Sam laughed loudly at that. “Whatever. You know I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat. How’s Jess? I got her voicemail.”  
  
“She’s doing fine. Worrying about you like crazy. She’d make a damn good lawyer, if you ask me. She nearly had me spilling all my dirty, little secrets.”  
  
He could just imagine Jess grilling Connor at every open opportunity, trying to find out about where he was going or what he was doing. “Well, it shouldn’t take too long. We found out what dad was investigating and once we get it taken care of, we’re hoping we’ll find him.”  
  
“What was he hunting?”  
  
Sam started to pace through the small bedroom, looking over the different articles on the walls. “A woman in white.”  
  
“Wait, the ghost of a jilted lover?”  
  
“The very same. Very violent and not wanting us to go digging around. If dad didn’t already get rid of the body, we’ll salt and burn it ourselves. But I’ll be b--”  
  
Sam trailed off when he turned around and saw Dean standing in the bathroom doorway staring at him in disbelief. The anger was rolling off of him in waves, and Sam froze. “Gotta go,” he mumbled into the phone before snapping it shut and shoving it into his back pocket.   
  
Dean pointed at him and to Sam, it felt like a loaded gun. “What the hell was that?”  
  
“What was what?” Sam asked, trying to buy some time to figure out what Dean heard and how he could spin it.   
  
“You know damn well what I mean, Sam. Who were you talking to on the phone about our hunt?” Dean slowly walked out of the bathroom and towards Sam. “Was it dad?”  
  
“What?” Sam asked in surprise. “No! No, it wasn’t dad. I haven’t spoken to dad in years.”  
  
The back of his legs hit one of the beds and he sat down as Dean kept advancing. “Then who the hell was it, Sam? Who are you telling about our hunt and about dad?”  
  
He tried to figure out a way to tell Dean about the past year and a half, but there really was no way to do it without his brother getting extremely angry. “It was Connor,” Sam said after a few terse moments.   
  
“Connor?” Dean asked in disbelief. “That girly kid who you called to stay in the apartment with Jessica? That guy?”  
  
“Yes, Dean. Connor.”  
  
“How the hell does he know what we are?”  
  
There was no way he could tell Dean the truth, because his brother was a bit too black and white when it came to the hunt. “He...his dad’s a hunter. His biological dad is, I mean.”  
  
Dean was starting to close off, so Sam surged off the couch and walked closer. “He grew up in this life like me, Dean. He didn’t want it, and his dad didn’t want him in it. He was legally adopted by another family and stopped hunting. When we first met, we had no idea who the other person was. We were just friends. About a year ago, there was a surge in demonic activity and we crossed paths trying to figure out what caused it.”  
  
“Oh, and you’ve been Sid and Nancy on the hunting trail ever since?” Dean asked sarcastically. “Do you even go to school anymore, Sam? Do you really have a law school interview on Monday or were you too anxious that a few days with me and I’d find out the truth?”  
  
“Dean!” he snapped, trying to gain control of the conversation again. “Connor and I aren’t hunters like you and dad. It’s not our life. We both go to school and we both have lives outside of the job. We do it only if it doesn’t get in the way.”  
  
Dean started pacing the same path Sam walked a few moments before. “You can’t do that, Sam. You can’t straddle the fence like that. You’re either in or you’re out.”  
  
“I’m out, Dean,” Sam said with certainty. “But if something happens around campus and it’s not going to hurt me or those around me if I take care of it, I’m not going to turn a blind eye.”   
  
His brother shook his head, taking a seat on the bed. “And Jessica has no idea?”  
  
“No one does, except for Connor. He’s like me. He doesn’t want the life, but sometimes it finds us. But I made a promise that if Jess and I...if we really go the distance with this, I’m giving it up for good. I don’t want to raise a family the way I was raised.”  
  
There was silence in the room before Dean stood, grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. “Dean, where are you going?”  
  
“To get something to eat. I need to think for a while.”  
  
“Dean,” Sam pleaded. “Come on, man.”  
  
He held his hand up as he opened the door. “Give me some time, Sam. It’s a little blindsiding. I leave you alone for two whole years just to find out you’ve been doing the same thing you wanted to get away from.”   
  
Sam had nothing to say to that, because it was true.   
  
“I’ll call you later,” he said before exiting the room. Sam sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh. A few seconds later, his cell phone was ringing. When he saw Dean’s name on the caller ID, Sam scoffed as he flipped it open.   
  
“That was quick.”  
  
“Dude, 5-0. Take off.”  
  
Sam shot off the bed and went to the windows to peek out the curtains. “What about you?”  
  
“Yeah, they kinda spotted me. Go find dad.”  
  
The line clicked then went dead, and Sam sighed. They didn’t need this on top of trying to find dad and Dean finding out about Sam’s extracurricular activities. When one of the troopers got too close to the window for comfort, Sam stepped back and grabbed his things, making a beeline for the bathroom window.  
  
………………………….............................  
  
Sam sighed as he got back into the Impala. Talking with Joseph Welch hadn’t gotten him far, but he did discover that his father had already been to question the man about his late wife. He shook his head as he started the car. Sam promised himself that he would never follow in his father’s footsteps, and here he was literally doing the same thing.   
  
He went over the facts they had accumulated as he started the car and headed back into town. Since the hotel room had been stripped by the police, they were left with the simple facts they learned for themselves and the articles they read before forced to escape. Sam looked down at his notepad with the notes he took as he questioned Joseph. It didn’t make sense that Constance Welch was still haunting the highway. If his dad knew where she was buried, why hadn’t he salted and burned the bones? Perhaps Dean would know, and for that, he needed to actually speak to Dean. As he neared town, he pulled the car over off of Main Street so he could park and think.  
  
His phone started ringing and Sam quickly opened it, not checking the caller ID. “Dean?” he asked breathlessly.   
  
“No, it’s Connor,” his friend replied worriedly. “What’s going on? You were supposed to call me back and you never did.”  
  
Sam sighed and leaned back in the seat. “Dean heard me talk about the case and knows that I haven’t exactly been free from the life as I claimed. He wasn’t too happy.”  
  
“Sorry, man. Anything I can do?”  
  
He chuckled dryly. “Yeah. Help me break Dean out of jail?” There was silence on the end of the line for a moment and Sam wondered if he dropped the call. He pulled the phone back to look at the screen, but the call was still connected. “Connor?”  
  
“You’ve been gone for twenty-four hours and one of you is already in prison? I don’t know whether to be impressed or worried.”  
  
“Don’t let Jess hear!” Sam hissed, but Connor chuckled.   
  
“Don’t worry. She’s in the kitchen doing dishes and can’t hear a thing. Now back to your brother. Why is he in jail?”  
  
Sam knew Connor was never going to let him live this down. He sighed. “Well, we kinda impersonated federal marshals.”  
  
The silence on the other end of the line was back. Sam knew Connor was rerunning the words through his head and trying to understand. “You what?”  
  
“In order to get information from local cops, we impersonated federal marshals,” Sam said with a huff. “I told you what I did wasn’t exactly legal, Connor.”  
  
“Exactly. You said you did things that weren’t entirely legal. I assumed you broke into places to get supplies and lied, not that you impersonated federal employees. You do know that’s a felony offense, right?”  
  
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yes, Connor, I do, but right now, I need to figure out how to get Dean out of jail so we can destroy the bones of this woman in white and then find dad so I can come home.”  
  
“All right, all right,” Connor said defensively. “Geez. Don’t bite my head off.”  
  
“Sorry,” Sam said with a sigh.   
  
“It’s fine. Now, how big is this town you’re in?”  
  
“Not big at all,” he confessed. “Couple hundred people, I think. Maybe a thousand?”  
  
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Connor muttered. “So the town is small, right? That means a very small local sheriff or police station. This is their big case, but they think they have a suspect or at least an accomplice in a fake federal officer. If they think they have another big crime occurring, they’ll keep him there and rush out.”  
  
Sam ran his hands over the steering wheel absently. “Look, I get what you’re saying, but how am I supposed to stage a huge occurrence that will evacuate the building? It’s not like I can walk in and pull the fire alarm.”  
  
“Sam,” Connor said with amusement in his voice. “It’s the 21st century. You don’t _have_ to do anything. You just have to tell them that something is happening.”  
  
“I still don’t get it.”  
  
“I refuse to believe you made a 174 on your LSAT. _Refuse_.”   
  
Sam sighed. “What am I supposed to do, Connor?”  
  
“Make a fake 911 call, Sam!” he said in a huff. “Call and say that you saw a ghastly hit and run or that a bus full of kids rolled over or something!”  
  
With a frown, he glanced down Main Street, seeing children playing. Grinning, Sam finally had an idea of what call to make. He would need to wait until nightfall so that Dean could escape under darkness, but sunset wasn’t that far away. Until then, Sam would grab something to eat and go over the case facts one more time.   
  
“Got it. Thanks, Connor, for helping me break the law.”  
  
Connor groaned. “Just hurry up and get back, will you? And try not to get arrested.”  
  
Just after nightfall, Sam drove back down to the road he scouted earlier, grabbing some loose change and heading toward the pay phone. He took a few quick breaths, then dialed 911. As the operator picked up, Sam put the theater class he took after losing a bet with Zach – never mind the experience in lying picked up on various hunts over the years - to good use.   
  
“Please, you have to help,” he said breathless, changing the pitch of his voice to make it sound higher and in distress. “I’m on Whiteford Road, and there were children playing, and I heard gunshots. Lots of gunshots, like popping noises.”  
  
“Sir,” the calm operator said on the other side of the line, “do you see the gunman?”  
  
Making a face, Sam kept an eye out for anyone who might see him and identify him. There was a group of teenagers on the other side of the street, but they were paying him no attention.   
  
“There’s more than one,” he said quickly, still playing his part. “I saw at least two, maybe more. Please, you have to hurry! Whiteford Road, multiple gunmen, save the children!” Sam finished quickly, wiping the phone down to remove his fingerprints and quickly rushing back to the car. Earlier, he planned a route using back roads so he could head out to the end of Breckenridge Road to salt and burn the bones of Constance Welch and not be seen by the cops heading to Whiteford Road.  
  
Just as he started to drive down Centennial Highway proper, his phone rang. Dean’s voice came across loud and clear. “Fake 911 call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal.”  
  
Sam chuckled wryly with a grin. Connor had probably wanted to bang his head into a wall for giving Sam the idea. “You’re welcome.”  
“Listen, we gotta talk.”  
  
…………………………  
  
Sam’s chest still hurt from where Constance shoved her hand into it, trying to kill him. His legs were also sore from the large dresser she shoved at him and Dean. He considered that a small price to pay since the ghost was finally gone. After listening to Dean bitch about how he was going to kill Sam if he damaged the Impala by driving it into the house, he helped his brother get the car out of the living room and back onto the road. Now, Sam was looking over a map. Their dad’s journal was on the seat in between them, open to the page with the coordinates left for Dean. “Okay, here’s where dad went. It’s called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.”  
  
“Sounds charming. How far?”  
  
He glanced down at the legend and tried to guess how far the town was from where they were currently in Jericho. “About six hundred miles.”  
  
Dean nodded absently and peeked at the dash, probably checking the fuel and oil levels. “If we shag ass we can make it by morning.”  
  
While he grinned at Dean’s crude remark, Sam sighed and put away the map. “Dean, um…”  
  
Dean took his eyes off the road and trained them on Sam for a few moments before darting back to the asphalt. “You’re not going.”  
  
He sounded disappointed, and Sam winced. “The interview’s in ten hours; I gotta be there. Plus, I need to go back to Jess. Connor can’t watch her forever.”  
  
“Yeah,” Dean said with a nod. “Yeah, whatever. Go back to your school, your girl, and this ‘safe hunting’ or whatever the hell it is you do at night to make yourself believe you’re still living the normal life. I’ll take you home.”  
  
Sam opened his mouth to argue, say that Dean didn’t get it at all, but the words wouldn’t come. He ended up turning his head to the side and staring at the black landscape that passed in a blur. He let the lull of the engine and the motion of the car put him in a sleep, trying to think of an excuse to give Jess when she found out that he hadn’t found their dad in case Dean came back again, needing his help.   
  
It seemed like only a few minutes before Dean was hitting him on the arm, trying to shake him awake. “Sam. _Sammy_!”  
  
He jolted awake, rubbing his face. “What? What is it?”  
  
Dean pointed off to the side and that was when Sam realized they were at his apartment complex, but something was wrong. Fire trucks lined the perimeter of the building and part of the parking lot was taped off. Spectators gawked as they watched firemen put out the massive fire coming out of familiar windows.   
  
“No...” Sam whispered before hastily unbuckling his seat belt and rushing out of the car, ignoring Dean calling his name. “Jess!” he shouted. “Connor! _Jessica_!”  
  
A fireman grabbed him as he tried to rush past the barriers and into the complex. “Whoa, you can’t go in there. Stay back.”  
  
“No, this is my place! My friend and girlfriend are in there!” Sam argued, trying to muscle his way past, but Dean was at his back, pulling him away.   
  
“The building was evacuated, son,” the fireman said. “We have no reason to believe anyone was inside.”  
  
Sam went slack and Dean pulled him away from the crowd. “Dean, where are they? If they’re not in there, where are they?”  
  
“I don’t know, Sammy.”  
  
He ran his hands through his hair as he tried to get his mind pulled together. His phone started buzzing in his back pocket and he pulled it out, eyes widening when he saw Connor’s name on the caller ID. Sam nearly ripped the phone apart trying to get it open. “Connor? Where the hell are you? Where’s Jess?”  
  
“We’re fine, Sam. We’re both okay. We’re at my apartment, and you need to come over, now.”  
  
“We’ll be there in five minutes. Just...stay there.”  
  
He turned around to find Dean, who was talking with one of the fireman. Sam rushed over and pulled him away. “They’re at Connor’s. We have to go.”   
  
“Sam, I--”  
  
“Let’s _go_ ,” Sam hissed, pulling at him one more time before running back to the Impala. Dean had no choice but to follow. Sam was anxious the entire drive over to Connor’s apartment. Sam didn’t even wait for Dean to park the car before he was pushing the door open.   
  
He entered the code on the keypad by the door and as soon as the light turned green, he pulled the door open hard. Sam heard Dean catch the door and yell for him as Sam headed for the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator, taking them two at a time. When he came to Connor’s door, he beat on it with his open palm. “Connor! Jess! It’s me, _open up_!”  
  
Dean caught up to him in the time it took Connor to open up the door. Sam lurched inside and his eyes honed in on Jess, sitting on the couch with a bandage around her stomach, her right ankle wrapped, and a first aid kit spread in front of her covered in bloody bandages.   
  
Sam rushed over to her, his hands ghosting over her warm skin but too nervous to touch. “Oh God, Jess...”  
  
She put his hands on his face to drag his wandering gaze from her injuries to her own eyes. “Hey, Sam, I’m okay.”  
  
“Jess,” he choked out, “you’re not okay. You...you’re injured. We need to get you to a hospital.”  
  
“And say what?” Connor snapped, and Sam remembered that he and Jess weren’t the only ones in the room. While his friend wasn’t too bad off, there were still bruises on his arms and one blossoming on his cheek. “That one of our friends was possessed by a demon and tried to filet your girlfriend on the ceiling before setting your apartment on fire?”  
  
Sam felt Jess tense next to him and he when he looked into her eyes, he saw the haunted look that mirrored every single person he’d saved in the past year. The disbelief, the hurt, the anger was all there and it broke his heart that she was subjected to it.   
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dean interrupted loudly. “You said one of your friends got himself possessed and tried to do _what_?”  
  
Sam tore himself away from Jess. “Who was it?”  
  
Connor answered Sam first. “It was Brady.”  
  
“What?” he asked loudly, the denial on the tips of his tongue, but in hindsight, his personality shift suddenly made sense. When Brady came back from Thanksgiving nearly two years ago, he was a completely different person, and when Sam and Connor took up hunting on the side, Brady all but disappeared.   
  
“Can we get back to the part where some demon just tried to fry a person on the ceiling?”  
  
What Dean was trying to get across to Sam was finally filtering in. “You don’t think...” he asked, trailing off.  
  
“Oh, that’s exactly what I think,” Dean replied, walking over to Jess and sitting across from her in one of the arm chairs. “Did this Brady guy say anything to you? Anything at all?”  
  
Jess bit her lip, then winced. There was a cut on her bottom lip and Sam dabbed up the blood that started to spill from the open wound. “He said that his master sent him to give you a message,” she said to Sam. “He said that you were getting too lax, and you were forgetting who you really were. You were losing your potential by doing things on your own terms, and that my death would give you the drive you needed to go back to the way things were supposed to be.”  
  
She took one of his hands in her own, and when she spoke, her voice was clear, calm, and even. “What the hell is going on, Sam?”  
  
“Do you need a minute?” Connor asked quietly, but Sam shook his head.   
  
“No, having you both here will help.” He sighed and looked down at Jess’s battered hands. “I didn’t lie when I said dad was on a hunting trip. I just didn’t tell you what he was hunting.”  
  
“What was he hunting?” Jess asked.   
  
“A woman in white. It’s the spirit of a woman who died a violent death after learning her husband was unfaithful. She prowls the area looking for unfaithful men and kills them. My dad went to stop him.” He took a deep breath and finally looked back into her eyes. “My family hunts evil spirits and demons. Up until the moment I stepped on campus here, I helped them.”  
  
When she pulled her hands away, he didn’t protest. Since she couldn’t stand and walk around like she tended to when she was thinking, he put some distance between them by walking to the other end of the room.  
  
“Why?” Jess started looking between the three men in the room. “Why do you do it?”  
  
Dean cleared his throat. “Because the master of this Brady dude killed our mother. Shoved her on the ceiling of Sammy’s nursery, gutted her, and burned the place down. Ever since, dad’s been on a hunt to find the thing, and we’re taking out any evil son of a bitch that we can along the way.”  
  
Sam couldn’t look at Jess as Dean told the story. She knew his mother died in a fire, but that’s all he told everyone but Connor.   
  
When Jess looked over at Connor though, he tensed. “My story is more complicated than that.”  
  
“Does it have something to do with your biological dad?”  
  
Connor sighed. “He’s a vampire.”  
  
Dean blinked and turned around to slowly face him. “Excuse me?”  
  
“Not the breed that’s nearly extinct, but another one. Hunters don’t run across them because they converge on mystical hotspots and are taken care of by vampire slayers.”  
  
Dean snorted. “Yeah, hate to say it man, but those are myths designed to scare the demons. It’s their bogeyman.”  
  
Connor smirked at Dean. “Tell that to my ex’s sister.”  
  
“Who, Dawn?” Jess asked in shock before falling back against the couch. “Holy shit.”  
  
Sam and Connor both laughed in surprise, since Jess hardly ever swore. He turned to Connor. “Where’s Brady?”  
  
“Dead,” Connor said flatly. “I snapped his neck and threw him out the window after the fire started. It’ll look like he jumped and fell. I didn’t make the break clean.”  
  
Sam sighed. “Damn it.”  
  
It was quiet in the room for a full minute before Jess asked Dean a question. “What are you going to do now?”  
  
He shrugged as he glanced at Sam. “Our dad left us coordinates in a journal he left behind. That’s where I’m headed. Sammy here has that big interview.”  
  
“No,” Sam said firmly, and didn’t back down when Connor and Jess looked at him in shock.   
  
“Sam!” Jess exclaimed.   
  
“No, Jess. You don’t understand. We’ve been trying to find the thing that killed my mother since I was six months old. I need to find him before this gets out of control. What if he comes after you again, or Luis or Becky or Zach or the entire school? I won’t let that bastard control my life anymore.”  
  
She just shook her head. “Connor, will you please talk some sense into him?”  
  
Connor was silent for a moment before he sighed. “He’s right. And I’m going to help him.”  
  
“No, you’re not, Connor,” he replied. “This isn’t your fight.”  
  
“The hell it’s not, Sam. I’m a player in this now, and you need me and my resources.”  
  
While all that was true, Connor didn’t have the luxury of dropping out with no consequences that Sam did. “What is your dad going to say?”  
  
Connor chuckled. “You know how he feels about lawyers. He always thought I was going turn evil the moment I got my degree.”  
  
Sam smiled sadly. “I meant the Reillys.”  
  
Connor flopped onto a chair. “I’ll tell them the truth. Their original memories have been slowly coming back since we left LA, so I think they’ll accept it well enough. I’m pretty sure they’ll soon forget I was even a part of their family.”  
  
“Memories?” Dean questioned before he looked at Sam. “What the hell kind of people are you hooking up with here?”  
  
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way to Colorado.”  
  
“Good,” Jess said as she straightened her back. “I’m rather interested.”  
  
All three men stared at her, but it was Sam who spoke. “Jess, you’re not coming with us. You still have school to finish.”  
  
When her eyebrow went up, Connor groaned and Sam winced. Dean didn’t know what that look meant yet, but he was about to find out. “The hell I’m not, Samuel Winchester. One of our friends was just… possessed and nearly killed me to get at you. You think that the moment you’re gone another one’s not going to try again? How can I finish school when I’m dead, Sam?”  
  
“She’s got a point, dude,” Dean chimed in, which prompted Sam to glare at him.   
  
Jess patted the seat Sam vacated earlier and he sat next to her. “Sam, I get that you need to get this...demon out of your life, but I need to help you get him out of _my_ life. Now that I know about all this stuff, I can’t just let you walk away and leave me here.”  
  
“But Jess, I can’t protect you while we’re hunting. I can’t keep my eye on the bad guys and you.”  
  
“So you’ll teach me.”  
  
“Teach you?” Dean asked with a laugh. “Teach you what?”  
  
Jess glared at him and his laughter tapered off. “Teach me to hunt. Teach me what you do. I can help you research and do background stuff.” She gripped his hand hard and Sam knew it was hurting her more than it was hurting him. “We’re in this together now, Sam. You can’t leave me behind.”  
  
The air was tense before Connor stood out of his chair. “Sam, she’s right.”  
  
“I know. It doesn’t make this any easier.” Sam grimaced as he looked up at Jess. “Fine. You can come with us.”  
  
The way she was smiling at him made him think they were planning a romantic trip to a faraway place, not a trip to Colorado to go hunting. He returned the smile, but wasn’t heartfelt.   
  
“All right, kiddies. Let’s gear up and head out.”  
  
Jess whipped her head to look at Dean. “What, we’re leaving tonight?”   
  
He smirked at her as he popped his back. “Welcome to the life of a hunter.”  
  
Sam glared at his brother. “Do you not see all the bandages on Jess? We can’t leave tonight. It’s not safe for her to move.”  
  
“We have to check out those coordinates, Sam.”  
  
“No, you do,” he snapped, standing up. “Dad left those for you, not me. I need to stay here with Jess until she’s well.”  
  
Both brothers were in a standoff, glaring at each other, while Connor and Jess watched. The silence stretched on as no one spoke in the tense room. Suddenly, the cell phone sitting on the table started to vibrate and Jess reached out painfully to grab it.   
  
“It’s Becky,” she said after looking at the screen. “She probably saw the fire trucks.”  
  
“Don’t answer it,” both Connor and Sam snapped. She looked up in concern.   
  
“But it’s Becky. She’s our friend. I can’t just ignore this.”  
  
Sam resumed his spot by Jess and pulled the phone out of her hands. He ignored the call and then turned the phone off, flipping it over and removing both the battery and the SIM card. “What would you tell her, Jess? That you were attacked by a demon living in her ex-boyfriend’s body?”  
  
She held her hand to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. “Oh God, Brady. I can’t…I just can’t believe…”  
  
“The signs were there,” Sam said sadly as he put the pieces of Jess’s cell phone onto the coffee table. “His mood swings, his abrupt change of behavior, and even the fact that he couldn’t stay in our room very long. I had it warded.”  
  
“You roomed with this dude?” Dean asked incredulously. “And when all this happened it didn’t scream ‘danger’ to you?”  
  
He sighed in irritation, not at Dean, because he was thinking the same thing himself. “I thought it was drugs, Dean. I didn’t think that my roommate would become possessed and plan to kill my girlfriend in the future.”  
  
“Why the hell not?”  
  
Sam spun around to glare at his brother again. “Because unlike some people, I don’t think ‘demon’ when someone acts weird around me.”  
  
“And look where it got you.”  
  
When Sam stood up and Dean took a step forward, Connor rushed in between them. “Guys, can we not do this right now?”  
  
They ignored him. “Did you really think you could ever be normal, Sam?” Dean asked. “You’re not normal; you’ve never been normal. You can’t straddle the fence between this life and the life of a hunter. I let you play the college card for a while but you’ve got to face up to what’s happening.”  
  
Sam’s jaw clenched. “I’m not you, Dean, and I’m sure as hell not dad. I don’t want this.”  
  
“You don’t have a choice.”  
  
“Sam,” Connor said softly, “if you two want to have a no-holds-barred fight, then fine, but we have to get out of here. Once people realize it was your apartment that was on fire, the next place they’ll look is here. We have to get to the safe house.”  
  
Sam knew that Connor was right, that it was likely the cops would want to question him, not to mention their friends would be extremely worried. He nodded and stepped back, looking at Jess with a wince. She rolled her eyes at him.   
  
“Sam Winchester, do not give me the pity face. I will be fine.”  
  
When Connor walked over to look at her bandages, he gave her a wry grin. “You’re just saying that because you’re in shock.”  
  
“Probably, but we’ll deal with my not-shock attitude when we come to it.” When Jess swung around to get ready to stand, Connor was by her side. Sam started to walk over, but he shook his head.   
  
“I can carry her easier and safer than you. I grabbed your emergency bag before we ran out of the apartment. It’s by mine in the closet. Grab that and whatever you can out of my chest so we can get out of here.”  
  
Sam hesitated as Connor gingerly helped Jess stand then picked her up in his arms, but he couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain, so he did what Connor asked. Dean followed him into Connor’s bedroom and stood by the large closet as Sam reached for their emergency bags.   
  
“This discussion isn’t over,” Dean reminded him seriously, “and I still don’t agree with Mr. Girl and your sweetheart tagging along.”  
  
He threw the bags down onto the bed hard. “Their names are Connor and Jess, Dean. Stop joking around; this is serious.”  
  
“You think I don’t know that?” his brother hissed. “Your ex-roommate is dead after being possessed by a demon and your girlfriend nearly ended up dead like mom. People are dropping like flies around you, Sammy. We need to find dad and figure out what’s happening.”  
  
Sam dragged Connor’s chest out from under the bed and flicked the lid open. “You really think dad’s going to know what’s going on?”  
  
“You got a better plan?”  
  
He paused in loading up a spare duffel bag. Sam really didn’t have any sort of plan, but Connor and Dean seemed to have their wits about them and knew what needed to happen. As much as he hated to admit it, he trusted Connor more than Dean at the moment, but only because Connor was as emotionally involved in this as he was.   
  
“Fine,” he snapped, zipping up the duffel bag and tossing it over his shoulder. “You go find dad, but I’m staying with Jess at the safe house until she’s well enough to travel. I don’t want to leave her here.”  
  
Dean picked up the emergency bags with a skeptical look on his face. “And how do I know you won’t ditch the safe house and crawl into another hidey hole the moment I’m gone?”  
  
They made their way out of the apartment and Sam made sure the door was closed tightly behind them. “You don’t, but Jess is injured and Connor will need some time getting in touch with his dad and getting everything settled. If we do change positions, I’ll let you know. I promise.”  
  
Connor had his own car pulled up at the entrance. Jess was lying in the back propped up with some blankets and Connor was settling her in. The trunk was open and Sam put the duffel bag full of weapons inside. When he turned back to Dean to take back the two emergency bags, his brother had his jaw clenched tightly.   
  
“You call me every night to let me know you’re still okay,” he said after a tense moment. “And if you even think about moving locations and don’t tell me, I will hunt you down and kick your ass until there’s nothing left.”  
  
“Dean—” Sam began, holding out his hands for the bags, but Dean didn’t hand them over.   
  
“You promise me, Sammy. You promise that as soon as you can, as soon as she’s able to, you’ll meet up with me. Something’s going down and I don’t like the idea of splitting up until we know what it is.”  
  
“Go to Colorado. Find dad and then we’ll work this out, okay?”  
  
Dean shook his head. “Promise me, Sam.”  
  
He gave Dean an exasperated look. For a moment, Sam pretended that this hadn’t been the night from hell, that Jess wasn’t lying in the back of Connor’s car heavily bandaged. Connor wasn’t giving up his promise of normalcy for Sam, and that Dean wasn’t looking at him like they would never see each other again. For a moment, Sam was just irritated with his looming older brother who wouldn’t give him a break.   
  
“Sam,” Connor said, “we need to go.”  
  
His friend’s words broke the silence like a hammer shattering glass and the moment was over.   
  
“I promise,” he said softly.  
  
Dean handed over the bags and Sam put them in the trunk, slamming it down to close. His brother walked over to the Impala. Before getting in, he gave one last look to Sam. The Impala roared to life and Dean quickly exited the townhouse parking lot.   
  
Sam sighed as he got in the front seat of Connor’s car. He turned to look back at Jess. The shadow of the night hid most of the bruises and cuts, but the stark contrast of the white bandages shone like beacons.   
  
“I already called Dad,” Connor said as he got in the car and turned the engine over. “He’s sending over a doctor to look us all over.”  
  
Jess held out her hand and Sam gripped as tight as he dared. ‘ _I love you_ ’, she mouthed before closing her eyes. He kept her hand in his, damning the awkward twist of his back to do so.   
  
“Where’s your brother going?”  
  
“Colorado,” he answered softly. “Dad left him coordinates leading to Black Water Ridge. When he finds Dad, he’s going to call and we can meet up.”  
  
Connor gave him a dubious look as they pulled away from the townhouse and down the back roads of Palo Alto. “Are you sure that’s wise? I know you all don’t really get along, but do you really want to drag your family into this?”  
  
As Sam glanced back at Jess, he sighed. “I already did.”  
  
With a snort, Connor focused entirely on the road, putting as much distance between them and Stanford. “You’re a masochist.”  
  
The car was silent for a few moments before Sam finally dragged his gaze away from Jess. “Thanks, Connor. For uprooting like you did and for keeping Jess alive. For not even asking questions that I know you must have.” He sighed and leaned his head against the headrest.   
  
“You’d do the same for me and you know it. Besides, Dean was right,” he said lightly, but Sam recognized the stress in his shoulders. His eyes were darting along the road almost too quickly, scanning for any threats that might pop out at them. “We couldn’t have the best of both worlds. One of them was bound to bite us in the ass and it makes sense that the world with the most teeth was the one to bite first.”  
  
He snorted at the imagery. “Yeah, well, I think it’s time we bite back.” Sam stared out the window as the scenery flashed by in a dark blur. “We have work to do.”  
  
  
THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if you indeed got this far. Thank you for sticking with me this long, all the way to the bittersweet end, even if the only sweet part of that deal with that Jess survives. I hope you enjoyed my take on this universe!
> 
> As always, I want to thank a few people who directly influenced this story and without them, I would not have finished.
> 
> There is a soundtrack complete with free downloadable songs, lyrics, and the cover art located [here](http://renewing-minds.livejournal.com/8655.html). Enjoy!


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